Written question WQ85787

Since November we have invested more than £380 million to mitigate the impact of the cost of living crisis for disadvantaged households.

It is helping to fund a £150 cost-of-living payment for all households in properties in council tax bands A to D and to all households, which receive support from the Council Tax Reduction Scheme in all council tax bands. To date, £112m has reached the pockets of the eligible households.

The funding will also support our second fuel support scheme which I announced on 20 July, the last fuel support scheme benefitted 166,780 households. Our extension of the fuel support scheme will mean nearly 200,000 more households on child tax credits, pension credits, disability benefits, carers allowance and contributory benefits will now be eligible for the £200 payment.

On 10 June we announced nearly £4 million of funding which will enable the Fuel Bank Foundation to introduce a national fuel voucher scheme and Heat Fund in Wales for people on prepayment meters and those not connected to the mains gas network who are struggling to prepay for fuel.

Between 1 October 2021 and 30 April 2022, more than a thousand individuals have been supported with their off grid fuel costs, resulting in nearly £192,000 in grants from the DAF.

In April – May this year, our second national Claim What’s Yours benefit take-up campaign delivered messages across all platforms, including TV, radio, and social media. Over 8,000 people responded to campaign’s call to action to contact Advicelink Cymru and have been helped to claim over £2.1m of additional income.