Islington Council distributes £2.2million of ‘lifeline’ support to communities as cost-of-living crisis deepens

The packages of support are the latest in an extensive range of help administered by Islington Council and targeted at the borough’s most vulnerable households, communities and local businesses. The council has broad discretion over how to distribute the money, which is the third tranche of central Government’s Household Support Fund.

More than £1million of the fund will be used to ensure that all Islington schoolchildren eligible for free meals at school do not go hungry during the autumn, Christmas and Easter holidays this academic year. Vouchers will be sent direct to families by schools, and posted to families on low-income benefits with children under school age.

A further £627,000 will be used to support more than 4,100 low-income households who were not eligible for previous cost of living support payments, and £432,000 will help support more than 5,300 of the borough’s least-financially-resilient households. A small percentage will be used to bolster the council’s Resident Support Scheme and help with any exceptional housing costs cases.

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Finance, Planning, and Performance, said: “The cost of living crisis is a frightening reality for everyone this winter, but we are determined to keep helping the most vulnerable people in our society to help make Islington a more equal place.

“The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement has put even more pressure on local people and many thousands of families will continue to struggle to put food on the table and pay the bills.

“The crisis has put even greater stresses on the shoulders of our most vulnerable neighbours. Many are struggling with impossible household budgets and simply don’t know how they’ll pay for the winter ahead. We’re determined to do everything we can to help and are using this grant funding to target support where it’s needed most.

“For some people these latest schemes will be a lifeline, and are of course in addition to a raft of help and support that we have put in place, underpinned by strategic oversight from our Cost of Living Board and our fundamental commitment to creating a more equal borough.”

Notes to editor

Administering the scheme:

Except for the free school meals vouchers, all households that are eligible for an award payment will receive a letter from the council. The payments are made via the Post Office Pay-out service. Residents can visit their nearest Post Office branch with some valid ID and their letter, which contains a unique single-use barcode, and exchange the letter for cash. The award amounts vary between £50 and £250, depending on the circumstances of the household.

Cost of living support:

Islington Council, as part of its commitment to creating a more equal borough, is determined to do all it can to support local people and businesses through the cost of living crisis. Distributing the third instalment of the Government’s Household Support Fund is the latest in an extensive range of help provided. This has either come from the council’s own funds, or external funds that have been administered by the council.

Last week the council announced further support for the winter using funding received from energy generation at the publicly-owned Edmonton EcoPark. This includes a £77,000 debt relief fund, support payments to more than 1,100 of the borough’s most vulnerable low-income households already in crisis, and £150,000 to support local businesses.

Last month, the council allocated the final £4.8million tranche of the Government’s Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund to support more than 950 eligible local small and medium-sized businesses, reducing their business rates bills and maximising the amount of funding staying in the borough. The council also made sure every penny of the Government’s Council Tax Energy Rebate has been distributed to eligible local households.

Also in October, the council convened the first Islington Together Cost Of Living Summit to assess the impact the crisis is having – and will have – on the borough’s communities. It started rolling out the Warm Community Spaces initiative which has seen dozens of community hubs offer a warm welcome to anyone struggling to heat their home, and set up a Cost Of Living Board. The board will constantly monitor the effects of the cost of living crisis on local people and businesses – and the success of schemes designed to help – to ensure the council targets future help where it’s needed most.

In September, Council Leader Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz lobbied then-Prime Minister Liz Truss for a comprehensive package of support for families and businesses that would offer immediate help.

In July, the council announced a £2.6million support scheme that included the second tranche of the Government’s Household Support Fund, boosted by £385,000 from the council’s own Community Wealth Building Hardship Fund. Together this funding ensured all schoolchildren eligible for free school meals during term time did not go hungry over the long summer break, as well as providing financial support to Islington’s most vulnerable pensioners, care leavers living independently for the first time, and thousands of the borough’s poorest families.

Also this summer, the council helped more than 26,500 of Islington’s most vulnerable households reduce their bills via its discretionary Council Tax rebate scheme, on top of the Government’s Council Tax Energy Rebate credit of £150 to 68,000 households in Council Tax bands A-D.

Last winter, the council used the first tranche of the Household Support Fund to give £200 supermarket vouchers to nearly 6,000 of the lowest income households in Islington to help with food and bills. It also operated a voucher system ensuring schoolchildren eligible for free school meals during term time did not go hungry over the Christmas 2021 and Easter 2022 breaks.

Further information on the cost of living support available to local people and businesses can be found on the council’s website.