Millions of pounds worth of funding to go to those in need in Lancashire

The cash will come from the latest tranche of the Household Support Fund and will see £19,356,470 come from the DWP from April to help Lancashire families in need of support over the next year in the face of rising costs.

The boost follows three earlier cash injections of over £9.5 million each (£9,678,235), totalling almost £30 million (£29,034,705) from the Household Support Fund, with the money going to Lancashire County Council over three stages since 2021 for them to distribute to various partners and district councils.

Among the vital help enabled by previous amounts was support during school holidays for families of children on free school meals, and cost of living help given to partners and districts across Lancashire.

The Household Support Fund is a discretionary fund provided to local authorities. It's aimed at helping them to provide support to vulnerable families struggling to cover essential costs who may not be eligible for other Government support schemes.

As previously, the vital cash is set to be distributed by the county council which is overseeing the money to help vulnerable and struggling people across our region to support with the cost of essentials in the face of rising prices. 

This latest release of a further £19,356,470 of Household Support Funding will bring the total level of support provided to Lancashire residents to £48,391,176 and is aimed at supporting the most vulnerable families in times of financial hardship.

The funding comes on top of earlier initiatives led by the county council, such as the £1million affordable warmth scheme, commissioned by Lancashire County Council and delivered through district councils, providing access to home energy support such as boiler and insulation measures and the development of Lancashire's Warm and Welcome Places scheme, launched last autumn to provide warm and welcome spaces in our libraries and other community buildings for residents.

Cllr Michael Green, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: "We absolutely welcome the third wave of this essential support, which will really go towards helping those who are struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising prices and the cost-of-living.         

“We are delighted at the allocation of an additional amount of over £19million from the Government to Lancashire County Council through the Household Support Fund, helping the most vulnerable families to navigate the challenges of rising cost-of-living.

"We have already doubled our allocation of funding for the affordable warmth scheme in Lancashire and are already working closely in consultation with district councils, the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector, NHS and wider partners to help our vulnerable residents navigate the challenges of the cost-of-living issue.

"This will be a huge help to the residents of Lancashire and help families and those who are most in need of financial support."

 Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, Director of Public Health, Lancashire County Council, said: "This is welcome news indeed and will help protect the health and wellbeing of our residents from the impact of the increasing cost of living, which is a key priority for the council.

"While national policies remain central to supporting our residents and businesses, it is important that we endeavour to take steps locally to further support vulnerable residents."