Rotherham Council's £550k pot for energy crisis grants this winter

Over the last two years, RMBC has administered payments of more than £2.8 million for 13,000 residents, using cash from the government’s pandemic pot and Household Support Fund.

Cabinet members voted on Monday (18) to allocate £550,000 more from the Covid fund to make 2.200 more grants available.

The funding is not intended to be means tested and residents do not need to be claiming benefits in order to be eligible.

But claimants are asked to demonstrate the acute hardship being caused to them by their energy bills, and normally need to demonstrate a bank balance of less than £150.

RMBC leader Cllr Chris Read said: “This is cash that we put aside during the pandemic to prepare for the challenges that lay ahead and for many of our families the challenge of big utility bills is their biggest concern.”