DORSET Council has pledged to spend £500,000 each year for the next four years to help people through the rising cost of living.
This pledge comes on top of the already £2 million the council has spent helping hundreds of people through its support initiatives.
A special report to the people and health scrutiny committee last Thursday (June 19) shone a light on the huge difference the support has made to people.
188 households across the county were financially supported to prevent homelessness in the last year– resulting in a return on investment of £19 for every £1 spent.
And an early help housing campaign led to a 12% increase in people contacting the council before reaching a crisis.
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More than 50 low-income and vulnerable households received energy-saving home adaptations, and Citizens Advice supported 903 individuals with complex casework, resulting in debts worth hundreds of thousands being written off.
Cabinet member for customer, culture and community engagement, councillor Ryan Hope, said: “This programme was truly transformational. It supported our most vulnerable residents across Dorset and helped shift focus from emergency response to prevention.
“Just one example has seen social supermarkets give people a route out of food poverty, helping reduce reliance on food banks and supporting long-term food security.
“And now, for the first time, this work is being supported by a dedicated, recurring budget. This gives long-term focus and reassurance to residents, officers, and the voluntary and community sector who have played a huge part in supporting our residents.”
The cost of living grants helped to fund food banks and social supermarkets, supporting around 7,000 households every month.
And the grants were also used to fund community cooking sessions, workshops for adults with learning disabilities and help hundreds of older people apply for benefits they were entitled to.
Daniel Cadisch, of Dorset Citizens Advice, said: “The cost-of-living support funds provided by Dorset Council have made a huge difference to the work we do.
“By supporting people, we can give them real hope to work through the problems they face and to look forward to a more positive future.
“We’re really pleased that the council has pledged to continue supporting communities as times are still very tough for so many of us.”
Any resident that would like to find out what cost of living support is available to them can go to www.dorsetcouncil.cost-of-living-help or call Citizens Advice on 0800 144 8848.
Meanwhile the Council leave homeless people to rot in sub-standard B&B’s and ‘supported’ temp housing where drug and alchol abuse and anti-social behaviour are rampant. Housing associations and private companies running the housing refuse to address any of the problems, only taking action against tenants with rental arrears. A poverty trap even for those trying to work – a single room in supported housing is around £1000 a month.
All to keep figures for street homelessness in the council area down.