Swansea East MS welcomes new support fund to help families hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis  

Swansea East MS welcomes new support fund to help families hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis

Welsh Labour’s Member of the Senedd for Swansea East, Mike Hedges  has welcomed a new £51m package of support to help families facing the cost-of-living crisis to pay their bills this winter.

The funding, which has been released from the Welsh Government’s reserves, will support lower income households, providing immediate support for people facing rising living costs this winter.

The first phase of the Household Support Fund will target the rising costs associated with heating and eating by providing families with extra help to pay their energy bills over the winter and giving extra funding to foodbanks and community food schemes.

The new fund comes as the Conservative UK Government continues to refuse to reverse its £20 cut to Universal Credit which has impacted tens of thousands of families in Wales and amid warnings from the Bank of England that inflation will rise to 5% by the spring, which will push prices even higher.

Welcoming the new support fund, Mike Hedges MS said: 

“Families in Swansea East are facing a cost-of-living crisis thanks to the economic choices and mismanagement of the UK Conservative Government, rising prices and the cruel £20 cut which is being imposed on those in receipt of Universal Credit. 

“While the Conservatives have once again failed families, the Welsh Labour Government is stepping in and doing everything they can within their powers and budget to support families through what is going to be a difficult winter. 

“I welcome the support which has been announced to help with heating and eating pressures and I again call on the Conservatives to reverse their cut to Universal Credit and to take meaningful action to address the cost of living crisis which people across Swansea East  are facing.” 

Welsh Labour’s Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS, has outlined the first measures that will be funded.

More than £38m will be made available through a Winter Fuel Support Scheme for households in receipt of working age means-tested benefits.

More than £1.1m has also been provided to support and bolster foodbanks, community food partnerships and community hubs. This will help them address food poverty, food insecurity and provide a wider range of services to help people and families maximise their income, including the extension of the successful Big Bocs Bwyd project to a further 25 schools.

Further announcements about the Household Support Fund will be made in the coming weeks.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Households that are eligible for the Winter Fuel Support Scheme will be able to claim a one-off £100 cash payment. It will be available to all eligible energy customers regardless of whether they pay for their fuel on a pre-payment or a credit meter.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Report, published on 04 November 2021, can be found here: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-report/2021/november-2021