Bolton has been allocated £1,110,882.11 - to provide support to families with children, other vulnerable households and individuals from the period 1st December 2020 to 31st March 2021 as part of the Covid Winter Grant Scheme.
The Department for Work and Pensions will provide funding for local authorities to administer the scheme and provide direct assistance to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic. This will include families who normally have access to Free School Meals during term time. Bolton Council will have the ability to deliver the scheme through vouchers or grants for example.
At least 80% of the total funding will be ring-fenced to support families with children, with up to 20% of the total funding to other types of households, including individuals. Further, at least 80% of the total funding will be ring-fenced to provide support with food, energy and water bills, with up to 20% on other items.
Proposals for Bolton
- Provision of vouchers for children eligible for Free School Meals - £40 per child to cover the Christmas holiday period and £20 per child to cover February half-term.
- Provision of vouchers to pre-school age children where families are in receipt of Local Council Tax Support – £40 per child per week to cover the Christmas holiday period and £20 per child to cover February half-term.
- Support for young persons aged 16-19 who are not in receipt of Free School Meals but families are in receipt of Local Council Tax Support.
- Increase Local Welfare Provision budget to provide additional support to families in financial difficulty with food, gas, electric and household items.
- Ring fenced budgets to support Care Leavers, Troubled Families and homeless with food provision and essential items.
- Reserve fund to provide flexible approach should we need to support other vulnerable groups through the next 4 months.
To support with the above, vouchers to be provided to children eligible for Free School Meals digitally via text and e-mail. This will be carried out by schools using existing platforms and they will also have the ability to produce paper vouchers if parents don’t have digital access.
Managed centrally, there will be paper vouchers that will be sent to families with pre-school age children and further, paper vouchers will also be sent to families with 16-19 years olds.
The Local Welfare Provision delivery will remain the same e.g. food parcels covering 4 weeks and additional support with gas and electric payments.
