Thousands of families to get up to £250 free cash for energy bills and council tax – are you eligible?
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
THOUSANDS of households will be able to get free financial support from their council, including supermarket vouchers and help with rent payments.
Rotherham Council has confirmed how it will spend the latest round of Government funding as part of the Household Support Fund (HSF) scheme.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
1
One-off energy grants of £250 are being given to more than £2,000 households
Credit: Getty
It approved a spending plan this week after receiving £4.387m for the 2025/26 financial year.
The Government's £742million Household Support Fund is being split between councils across England to help the poorest residents.
The scheme has been extended multiple times with the latest round running between April 2025 and March 2026.
Each council gets to decide how it will spend the cash but the aim is to help those on a low income or benefits.
Rotherham has said it will prioritise helping residents with food, energy grants and council tax relief, as well as aid for care leavers and other vulnerable groups.
Roughly half of the funding - £2.687million - will be spent on supermarket vouchers for the families of children eligible for free school meals.
The vouchers will be given out during the school holidays and will be worth £15 per week.
All children who get free school meals will be eligible automatically and their families will not need to apply.
The council will also be making Discretionary Housing Payments to help people cover their rent.
The payments will be given to people on Housing Benefit or who get the housing element of Universal Credit but need more help with housing costs.
COUNCIL TAX REDUCTIONS
Separately, the Local Council Tax Support scheme will reduce council tax bills for more than 14,000 low-income households.
Some £500,000 has been allocated to fund the Energy Crisis Support scheme, which will give one-off £250 energy grants to more than 2,000 households.
Young people leaving care and setting up home can also get help for food and utility bills through the Children and Young People's Services Directorate.
Rotherham Council said it's already working directly with these young people and there is no need to apply.
As well as this, the fund will help provide more food, household goods and personal hygiene products to foodbanks.
People can access this help by visiting their local foodbank or Open Arms drop-in sessions.
Another £60,000 is being spent on helping local voluntary and community groups to distribute food hampers and support over Christmas and New Year.
What if you don't live in Rotherham?
If you're struggling financially but don't live in Rotherham you may still be able to get help from the Household Support Fund.
That's because the fund is being split between councils across England, so your local council should have its own plans.
What type of help you can get will vary but it could range from a free cash payment to supermarket vouchers.
The latest round of funding has only just started so your council might not be accepting applications yet.
It's worth keeping an eye on your local council's website or social media channels.
Plus, most councils have pages on their websites dedicated to their HSF.
You might be able to find it by typing in the name of your council then "Household Support Fund" into Google search.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer says 'AI makes us more human' as he unveils new tech tool
Keir Starmer has insisted artificial intelligence 'makes us more human' in a keynote speech setting out his plans to use tech to create a 'better future' for generations to come Keir Starmer has insisted artificial intelligence "makes us more human" in a keynote speech. The PM suggested the tech could help workers spend more time on face-to-face help - instead of spending many hours filling out forms. It came as Mr Starmer said a new AI tool - 'Extract' - will also help speed up planning permission for new homes by scanning hundreds of files in a second. The government said it will slash 250,000 hours spent by planning officers manually checking documents - freeing up valuable time. Mr Starmer said the tool was already being trialled in councils including Exeter and Nuneaton. Addressing London tech week, he said: "What it does is take old hand-written planning documents and puts them into digital form within seconds. So jobs that otherwise would have taken hours and hours done in seconds. We want to roll that out across the country." Keir Starmer unveils plan to help one million schoolkids in major tech drive During the event Mr Starmer also said a social worker told him at a No10 reception that AI had helped her concentrate on the "human element" of the job". He added: "I've always said AI and tech makes us more human, which sounds an odd thing to say, but it's true. We need to say it because... some people out there are sceptical. They do worry about AI taking their job." But he added: "I believe the way that we work through this together is critical." Mr Starmer also said youngsters will be able to access more job opportunities in tech under a major drive to skill up Britain. The PM announced plans to help around one million school-age children gain skills in technology under a new TechFirst scheme. It will help to prepare kids should they want to become AI engineers, computer scientists or data analysts in the future. Mr Starmer has said that within the coming years the Government should be able to "look every parent in the eye" and pledge that tech can create a "better future" for their children. Speaking on Monday, he said: "By the end of this Parliament we should be able to look every parent in the eye in every region in Britain and say 'look what technology can deliver for you'. "We can put money in your pocket, we can create wealth in your community, we can create good jobs, vastly improve our public services, and build a better future for your children. That, to me, is the opportunity we must seize. That's what my plan for change will deliver and, today, I think we're taking another big step towards it."
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Rutte to meet PM as Nato chief says ‘quantum leap' in defence needed
The secretary general of the military bloc is expected to use a speech at London's Chatham House to say a '400% increase in air and missile' capability is required just to maintain deterrence and defence. He will say 'wishful thinking will not keep us safe' as he warns Nato must become a 'stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance' to protect itself, in the remarks on Monday, when he will also separately meet the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary John Healey. Mr Rutte is expected to say: 'The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. 'The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends'. He will add: 'We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies. 'Our militaries also need thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks, millions more artillery shells, and we must double our enabling capabilities, such as logistics, supply, transportation and medical support'. On threats against the alliance, Mr Rutte will say: 'Wishful thinking will not keep us safe. We cannot dream away the danger. 'Hope is not a strategy. So Nato has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.' The Prime Minister has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament, a timetable which could stretch to 2034. But Mr Rutte's visit to the UK comes after he proposed members of the bloc spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence as part of a strengthened investment plan for the alliance. The target would require nations to raise core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, while the remaining 1.5% is to be made up of 'defence-related expenditure'. Nato leaders will meet in The Hague later this month, when the total 5% spending target by 2035 will be discussed. The UK's Strategic Defence Review, which was published on Monday, recommended sweeping changes, including a greater focus on new technology, including drones and artificial intelligence based on rising budgets. The boost to the defence budget will be confirmed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her spending review on Wednesday, when she will set out the Government's priorities for the next three years.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Minister says spending review will mark ‘end to austerity', as Home Office yet to agree deal
Update: Date: 2025-06-09T08:32:22.000Z Title: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, settled with the Treasury late last night. Content: Good morning. In theory spending review negotiations can go up to the wire, with the final talks to resolve sticking points taking place late at night, only hours before the final decisions, and documents, are presented to MPs. In practice, it does not really happen like that now, last-minute haggling is no longer routine, and, with two days to go beofre the spending review that will settle government spending until 2019, only one cabinet minister has not yet settled. Here are the key developments this morning on the issue that will dominate the week. The news was broken by Arj Singh from the i, who reports: The i Paper understands that Rayner and Reeves agreed a deal just after 7.30pm after marathon talks on Sunday. But Home Office and Treasury sources were tight lipped on Sunday, in an indication that negotiations over police funding are also going to the wire. That means Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is the only minister yet to agree a spending settlement with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. In the Times Chris Smyth says police budgets are expected to rise by more than inflation, but other parts of the Home Office budget may face cuts. He reports: It is understood that Reeves has insisted that policing budgets will rise in each year of the spending review, which sets funding up to 2028-29. However, it remains unclear if the boost will match the more than £1 billion extra officers say is needed to cover existing shortfalls. Cooper is also expected to have to find deeper cuts elsewhere to boost police budgets. The Border Force has warned of longer queues at airports as it faces cuts to its £1.2 billion budget, saying there would be a 'threat to national security' if it lost frontline staff. Two police unions have launched a last-minute bid for extra money. In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Nick Smart, president of the Police Superintendents's Association, and Tiff Lynch, acting chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, say: Police are being asked to do more with less – again – as pressure mounts on already overstretched budgets. Why? Policing faces a £1.2 billion shortfall. This is before it is asked to deliver the ambitious pledges of the new government. Police forces across the country are being forced to shed officers and staff to deliver savings. These are not administrative cuts. They go to the core of policing's ability to deliver a quality service: fewer officers on the beat, longer wait times for victims, and less available officers when a crisis hits. As a practical lobbying exercise, this is fairly pointless, because it comes too late, but the two unions are making their case to the public. Chris Bryant, the culture minister, has said that the spending review will mark 'an end to austerity'. He told Times Radio: We know from running the government that spending money of itself isn't an achievement. Spending money and getting results is an achievement and that's why we are saying now with this spending review on Wednesday it's an end to austerity … That period of austerity where I think previous governments simply cut all public service budgets just because they believed that was what you had to do is over. But he also said some budgets would be 'stretched'. He said health and defence spending would rise, but added: There are going to be other parts of the budget that are going to be much more stretched and be difficult. Ministers have been promising the end of austerity at least since Theresa May was in office. Labour defend using the term on the grounds that overall government spending is going up in real terms. But there is no agreed definition of 'austerity' and, if spending is falling in certain areas, that may feel like austerity, and so using the term does not contribute a lot to public debate. What it does mean, though, is government not wanting to be associated with George Osborne. Here is our overnight story about the spending review. Here is the agenda for the day. Morning: Keir Starmer gives a speech at a London Tech Week event. 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. Noon: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, gives a speech at Port Talbot in south Wales. 2.30pm: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM and housing secretary, takes questions in the Commons. Also, Starmer is meeting Mark Rutte, the Nato general secretary, in Downing Street today. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can't read all the messages BTL, but if you put 'Andrew' in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word. If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @ The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary. I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can't promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
