Council change to cost of living support will affect Dearne Valley residets
BARNSLEY Council’s Reform UK-led cabinet has approved plans to discontinue its £100 cost of living payment for thousands of pensioners receiving Council Tax Support, despite the party’s national opposition to Labour’s cuts to winter fuel payments.
The authority has approved plans to end its £100 cost of living payment for pensioners receiving Council Tax Support, alongside equivalent payments for working-age residents and travel support for low-income households.
It has also scaled back a universal school uniform voucher scheme so it will only be available to children starting Reception and Year 7.
The decision comes after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage made Labour’s decision to means-test winter fuel payments a key political issue, repeatedly criticising the move and pledging to restore the benefit if his party entered government.
The payments were introduced by Barnsley Council’s previous Labour administration, following changes to the Government’s Winter Fuel scheme.
The original scheme was approved to run for two years. However, the Reform UK administration has approved plans to discontinue the universal payments and instead provide targeted support through the Government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund, which council papers say cannot be used to make blanket payments to specific groups and instead requires support to be based on individual need.
Last year, Barnsley Council issued 7,877 £100 cost of living payments to pensioners, and made 15,627 payments to working-age residents and provided travel-to-work support to more than 3,000 low-income households.
Council leader William Brown said the authority wanted to move away from “one-off, universal payments” and instead use Barnsley’s £4.7m allocation from the Government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund to provide targeted support.
Cllr Martin Bancroft, cabinet spokesperson for core services, said the proposals were “about refocusing, not reducing support”, adding they would target help “where it has the greatest impact”.
Council papers state the Government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund states support must be based on an assessment of individuals’ circumstances, with future assistance targeted at residents facing financial hardship..
Under the revised school uniform scheme, around 5,500 children entering Reception and Year 7 will receive vouchers worth £50 for primary pupils and £100 for secondary pupils, compared with more than 33,800 vouchers issued under last year’s universal scheme.
The recommendations were approved by a show of hands, with six of the 10 cabinet members present voting in favour.