Help for struggling households in Hampshire is set to continue, including support for schools, vulnerable low-income families with children and pensioners struggling with energy, water bills, and food.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has allocated just over £7.1 million from the household support fund to Hampshire County Council from October 2024 to March 2025.

This funding is intended to help households in greatest need, especially those not eligible for other government support.

By approving the expenditure, the county council wants to support a wide range of low-income households in need, including families with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, disabled people, larger families, and single-person households, who may otherwise struggle with energy bills, food and water bills.

A total of £3,271,165 will be distributed between different organisations. Schools, colleges and early years settings will receive £1,265,212 to provide support for low-income families with children.

Citizens Advice East Hampshire will get £482,964 to support the most vulnerable households in Hampshire with utility costs and eligibility checking, supporting 2,800 households, and £100,000 to deliver accompanying fuel poverty advice.

Another grant of £110,736 to Citizens Advice Hampshire will help them deliver specialists to assist individuals who struggle with online application processes due to digital exclusion.

District and borough councils across Hampshire will receive £455,963 to support households with exceptional housing costs.

Hampshire Library Service is set to receive £75,040 to extend and develop its current community offer, including signposting to relevant services, chat about groups for the elderly and infirm and providing warm and welcome resources, warm spaces, and sanitary products.

A grant of £220,000 to the Environment Centre to provide grants to 75 households to repair or replace boilers.

From the total, £989,679 will be invested to offer food vouchers to families with children, foster families, vulnerable families, care leavers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged between 16-18, and families with disabled children.

Another £2,473,854 will be distributed to initiatives supporting low-income families, delivering food or fuel poverty advice, and organisations that wish to help vulnerable residents county-wide.

Cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Roz Chadd, said the funding showed the great work the council has done with it previously, and she looks forward to seeing what else they will be doing.

Cllr Chadd added: “Having spoken to and received correspondence from some of our partners about this, they are really pleased with how we will be allocating the funding again this time. So that makes me really happy that they are working with us to make sure that we reach as many of our Hampshire residents that are in need of this as possible.”