"This extra funding is a positive step to enable councils to continue to provide much-needed support to low income households at risk of poverty and financial hardship, including support for families during the Easter holidays alongside the new Holiday Activities and Food fund."
Responding to today’s government announcement that an extra £59 million will be allocated to the COVID Winter Grant Scheme, which will cover the two-week Easter period, Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Resources Board, said:
“This extra funding is a positive step to enable councils to continue to provide much-needed support to low income households at risk of poverty and financial hardship, including support for families during the Easter holidays alongside the new Holiday Activities and Food fund.
“We have been pleased to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on implementation of the funding, and councils have demonstrated a wide range of effective local delivery. However, both councils and partners have highlighted the need to ensure that we are able to address the underlying drivers of disadvantage and ensure that we break cycles of poverty and crisis in the longer term.
“An effective long-term solution to preventing poverty and disadvantage is needed, which is why the LGA is discussing with government and partners how best to enable councils to provide integrated, preventative support to low-income households, including the potential benefits of providing sustainable local welfare funding of at least £250 million per year.”