Horsham District Council Leader says: “Council’s paramount concern is to help the most vulnerable in our community throughout this cost of living crisis. We are therefore announcing a further £250,000 of funding to help our residents battle the crisis, particularly as we head into the winter months.”
This new proposed funding is in addition to £300,000 emergency support funding which was approved by the Council in June this year.
A five-point cost of living action plan will be announced at the meeting of full Council on 19 October and will include the following measures:
- Entering a partnership agreement with Citizens Advice to provide two new advisors to support residents through the cost of living crisis, costing approximately £160,000 over a two year fixed period.
- Funding the Low Income Family Tracker for a two year period costing approximately £40,000 in total, which will help the advisors target those people who are not claiming all of the financial support that they are entitled to.
- Providing an additional £25,000 one-off funding to Horsham Matters to support their foodbank provision in 2022/23.
- Establishing a new corporate project to create an accessible directory of support services to better access the support that people may need.
- Creating a flexible fund of £25,000 to support in year interventions identified through partnership work with community groups and voluntary sector organisations.
The Council has been working with key local partners including Citizens Advice, Age UK and Horsham Matters to understand the impact of the cost of living crisis on our District’s residents and to identify how we can work better together to help.
Commenting on the additional proposed cost of living action plan Leader of the Council Cllr Jonathan Chowen said:
As a council it is our primary focus to do whatever we can within our powers to take action and ease the current financial burden for many of our local residents.
We are providing this additional aid to our key community partners so that they can continue the great work they are doing which directly helps those in most need.
Financial prudence allows us to provide the necessary financial support to our people and their families in these critically difficult times, when many people will be concerned about ever rising costs and where they can seek help.
Additionally, a series of community drop-in sessions have been introduced across the Horsham District to help residents who are struggling and need help accessing key services to help them stay independent and healthy.
The sessions bring together a range of community partners to support residents’ access to relevant benefits and hardship support and also provide money management advice.
The drop-in sessions have been organised by Horsham District Council’s Community Services team in partnership with West Sussex County Council Partnerships and Communities team.
The sessions started in early August and will run until at least March 2023.
Horsham District Council has also been successful as part of a consortium of local authorities in securing funding from the Government’s Sustainable Warmth funding competition, to offer fully funded measures which will improve the energy efficiency of local eligible homes. These efficiencies will be delivered under a programme called Warmer Homes.
Funding under the Warmer Homes programme is available from October 2022 until March 2023, for the following energy efficiency measures:
- Insulation
- Solar PV panels
- Air source heat pumps.
Warmer Homes funding is offered on a first-come, first-served basis and applications take no longer than five minutes.
Visit the Warmer Homes website to apply online, or call on 0800 038 5737 (freephone).
To find out if you are eligible to access additional sources of funding to help you with the current cost of living crisis please visit the Government website
For media queries please email press@horsham.gov.uk .