Energy Hardship Fund

Energy Hardship Fund

West Dunbartonshire Council is supporting families affected by the cost of living crisis by providing access to a discretionary one-off, non-repayable grant of £200. This is a targeted intervention designed to support households that have income in the region of £20,000 - £30,000 each year but are now facing financial hardship due to the increasing cost of living. In addition, households should not have received cost of living grants provided by the UK Government.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to qualify for the fund the following eligibility criteria has to be met.

1. Applicant household net income must be in the range between £20,000 – £30,000 a year (excluding child benefit, attendance allowance, adult disability payment, child disability payment, disability living allowance, personal independence payment). A copy of a wage slip and/or bank statement must be sent along with the application.

2. Applicants should not have received or be due to receive a Cost of Living payment from DWP or HMRC

3. Applicants or a member of their household should not have previously received an award from West Dunbartonshire Energy Hardship Fund. This will be a self-declaration by the applicant.

Priority Target Groups

We are keen to support households that are in the £20-30,000 and are among those most likely to face hardship.

The target groups that we are seeking to support are:

• Single income households;

• households with 3 or more children;

• households with a member affected by disability;

• lone parent households;

• households with children under the age of 2 years;

• households with parents who are younger than 25 years;

• ethnic minority households;

• households with care responsibilities and young carers;

• Care experienced young people.

The referral form will be completed by school staff and forwarded to our team in the Family Opportunity Hub.

Referral does not guarantee that the payment will be made.

Those nominated will be contacted by staff from our Family Opportunity Hub and an application to the grant will be made.

At this point, parents/carers will be asked to provide evidence of their income as part of the process. They must also provide bank details. This must be the bank details for the named applicant or their partner. Nominated bank accounts cannot be accepted unless the applicant can demonstrate that’s where their income is paid.

On receipt of the referral one of our team will contact the parent/carer within a few days.