Hull City Council will use the spare funding to support a number of initiatives including free school meals during the start of the Easter holidays
Hull City Council’s cabinet will redistribute money from the Household Support Fund following the Government U-turn on winter payments to pensioners. In October 2024, councillors set out plans to use some of the Government funding to support pensioners who had seen their Winter Fuel Payment cut.
However, as the Labour Government has reinstated the payment to pensioners with an income of less than £35,000, the council has been able to use the funding elsewhere. The authority said that, following a review, it can be confirmed that pensioners who received that £200 payment from Hull City Council last year are in line to receive the Winter Fuel Payment directly this year.
The cabinet has therefore agreed to use the spare funding to boost a number of initiatives. It will allow 16,130 pupils to receive free school meals in the first week of the Easter school holidays. These will be distributed as £15 vouchers per eligible child.
The funding will also provide further support for pensioners via Age UK. This aims to provide an advice and advocacy service supporting more pensioners with applications for welfare benefits such as Pension Credit.
Extra funding for Tenancy Support and Sustainment is also included in the new allocations. A report presented to the cabinet states “£150,000 has previously been committed for this scheme,” and explains an additional £100,000 will now be allocated. £65,000 will support those in private tenancies and £35,000 will support those in council housing.
The leader of Hull City Council, Cllr Mike Ross, said: “By using the Household Support Fund, we’re currently able to make sure that those who are eligible for the free school meal vouchers receive them automatically, including during this Christmas and the February half-term. The proposals we’ve agreed today (Monday, December 15) ensure that families will also receive vouchers for the start of the Easter holidays at the end of March.
“We are aware, however, that the Household Support Fund is being replaced right at the start of April by the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), and it is understood that parents and carers may need to go through an application process for the free school meal vouchers. In our view it would be the wrong move for the government to move away from allowing councils to use the funding to support families in the same way during the holiday periods.
“We need to know sooner rather than later how the new CRF is going to work, and I’ve called on the Government to keep funding available to allow the current automatic distribution of vouchers to remain in place. A change could lead to a time-consuming and stressful process for families, as well as a needlessly costly admin process for the Council.”
In June, upon announcing the change in policy which means 9-million pensioners will receive the Winter Fuel Payment this winter, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Targeting Winter Fuel Payments was a tough decision, but the right decision because of the inheritance we had been left by the previous government. It is also right that we continue to means-test this payment so that it is targeted and fair, rather than restoring eligibility to everyone including the wealthiest.
“But we have now acted to expand the eligibility of the Winter Fuel Payment so no pensioner on a lower income will miss out. This will mean over three quarters of pensioners receiving the payment in England and Wales later this winter.”
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