A fund that supports some of Bolton’s poorest families has been extended just before it was due to be cut off. This comes after the government announced earlier this week that the Household Support Fund, worth around £421m across the country will be extended for six months. The money will be used to help people in need with the costs of food , water and energy.
Council leader Cllr Nick Peel said: “The last government left local authorities in crisis, and it was originally brought in as a temporary measure during the pandemic. “But then of course we had the cost-of-living crisis and everything else.” The fund has previously been debated at Bolton Town Hall (Image: Newsquest) He added: “It does need replacing though because it's unsustainable in the long term.
“Ultimately the best way out of poverty is better paid jobs, but that’s in the long term.” The last extension to the Household Support Fund in Bolton, worth around £2,780,000, was granted from April 1 this year and was due to come to an end on September 30. But at the time this had drawn criticism, with Labour’s Cllr Peel having described the extension as a “knee-jerk reaction” that would leave the borough in the same position six months later.
At the same town hall meeting last April, Conservative leader Cllr Martyn Cox said that investing in longer term returns for families would be a better option. The then Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Roger Hayes said that it showed “a terrible lack of .