Rotherham residents offer council winter support payments

Rotherham residents struggling to pay their bills could claim up to £250 from the council this winter.

To be eligible, residents must have no more than £150 left each month after covering basic expenses such as food, rent or mortgage and utility bills, according to Rotherham Council.

The funding was not means tested, meaning applicants do not need to have benefits to apply and residents of any age can apply for help, the spokesman said.

Rotherham council leader Chris Reid said: “We don’t want anyone to worry about their heating going off this winter because they can’t afford to pay their bills.”

According to Local Democracy Reporting ServiceTo apply, residents will need to provide basic financial information, including a recent bank statement, recent energy bill and an estimate of their monthly income and expenses.

Reid said the council had committed more than £1 million to its Household Support Fund this winter “to make more crisis payments available to more residents than ever before”.

“Whatever your age, if you simply cannot pay your gas or electricity bills this winter, please contact us and see if our crisis scheme can help you,” he said.

Additional support was available through the government’s Pension Credit Scheme for residents aged 66 and over, a council spokesman added.

Other financial support is also available for working-age people with low incomes and their families, they said.

This included additional council tax payments for eligible residents and free school meals for school-aged children during the winter school holidays.

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