Stuart Anderson, Conservatives Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South Shropshire, has welcomed the news that Shropshire has been allocated more than £2 million to continue providing targeted support to vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food and utilities. This comes from extra funding in the extension of the Household Support Fund announced in the Spring Budget to September 2024, and comes on top of the good news that inflation is expected to drop to 2% this year.
The allocation, worth £2,088,795.13 for Shropshire, is from the Household Support Fund. The Fund is a flexible scheme enabling Shropshire Council to support vulnerable households in most need with the cost of essentials such as energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials - prioritising support that offers immediate impact. Taken together, government support for households to help with the cost of living is worth £108 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25, or £3,700 per household on average.
Government support also includes extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflation-linked increase for 2024-25. This support is being maintained at a time where many European countries have ended their fuel duty cuts and represents around £13 billion of support over the three years from being introduced. It is worth around £50 for the average car driver in 2024-25, continuing support for the industry and motorists in rural areas like Shropshire.
Stuart Anderson said:
“As inflation continues to fall, we continue to empower councils to offer direct support for those most in need. This £2 million allocation for Shropshire from the Household Support Fund will help to ease the pressure on family budgets as we work to ensure inflation soon returns to target. This targeted support for people who require further assistance demonstrates our ongoing commitment to supporting the most vulnerable in our local community.”
A comprehensive range of government support schemes can be found via Stuart's Household Support Finder at https://southshropshire.stuartanderson.org.uk/household-support.
