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Members sitting on the Council’s Communities Committee today (25 August) received and agreed a report that provided an update on the impact of the current financial situation.
The report detailed that over five thousand benefit administration processes were currently outstanding. The Finance, Procurement and Transformation Committee agreed extra resources around a year ago to deal with the additional workload.
The team administer many different grants and benefits. Last year, £3.7million was paid to families for free school meals. As well as free school meals, clothing grants for primary and secondary school children were also administered, totalling nearly £350,000.
The report also detailed statistics around the Scottish Welfare Fund. As of the end of June this year, 2,302 applications for a crisis grant have been received for the 2022/23 financial year. This funding is predominantly given to households to pay for food and household fuel and is often a real lifeline to those who are in need.
The Welfare and Housing Options Team have prevented 134 households from progressing to evictions during this financial year. The team not only assist service users in sustaining their tenancies, but also help with addressing debt issues.
Councillors also heard that a total of £7.9million has been credited to nearly 53,000 Council Tax accounts, by way of the cost of living payment. The scheme closed earlier this month and a report on the spend will be taken to The Scottish Government by the end of August.
Chairman of the Communities Committee, Cllr Archie Dryburgh welcomed the report. He stated:
“The fantastic work of this small and dedicated team is really brought to life in this update report. The facts and stats give a clear indication of now only the amount, but also the volume of financial assistance our Council is administering on a weekly basis.”
Vice Chair, Councillor John Campbell commented:
“I would like to place on record my thanks to the team for their continued work to helping the residents of our region who need it most. The team is very approachable and will help in whatever way they can, so if you need financial help, please get in touch. We’re here to help.”
You can see the report in full by visiting our website - Agenda for Communities Committee on Thursday, 25th August, 2022, 10.30 am - Dumfries and Galloway Council (moderngov.co.uk)
