Rotherham Council’s Cabinet is set to approve plans to provide support for households on a low-income across Rotherham, including free school meal provision for children during school holidays.
The Council has been allocated a total of £2.489m of the UK Government Household Support Fund for the period between April to September 2024. The funding is to be used to support those who are struggling to pay their energy bills, food and essential household items such a personal care items.
Amongst the proposals for spending allocation, £1.585m is being proposed to provide vouchers for free school meals for the spring half term, summer, and autumn half term holidays. This will allow over 13,000 children across Rotherham access free school meals during the holidays.
Children in receipt of free schools meals in Rotherham has increased by over 1,000 in 2023/24, making this a priority area for the funding.
A further £500,000 is being proposed as Council Tax Support with around 15,000 households expected to benefit from this scheme.
The Council’s Energy Crisis Support Scheme will also benfit from the fund with a further £174,000 being allocated to support 696 grants of £250 for residents unable to pay their energy bills.
Following feedback and community intelligence from partners, the Council is also proposing some of the funding be used for wider essentials for cleaning and personal hygiene items, such as cleaning supplies, sanitary products and other items.
Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Neighbourhood Working, Councillor David Sheppard, said: “For many people in Rotherham, support through this funding has been a lifeline throughout the cost-of-living crisis. I am pleased that there are options to continue some of the schemes, such as the free school meal vouchers for school children, which have had and will continue to have a huge impact on residents’ lives.”
The Council was previously awarded a full year UK Government Household Support Fund grant of just under £5m. As of 31 March 2024, the Council had fully spent this grant to deliver nearly 165,000 Free School Meals vouchers; support 2,000 households with their energy bills through its Energy Crisis Support Scheme; support 15,000 households with their Council Tax bills; support 900 households with housing costs; and provide 15,669 crisis food parcels over the year.
To find out more about the support currently available for residents, go online to the Rotherham Council wesbite at www.rotherham.gov.uk/money-matters.
