Cost of Living Support

With the increasing energy prices and the effect on the cost of living, the Northern Warwickshire Financial Inclusion Partnership (NWFIP) is working to provide information, advice and details of services that are available to help and support residents.

Our aim is to offer advice on any new schemes and initiatives that could benefit you as well as providing support with energy, water use and bills. We encourage you to seek help as soon as possible to avoid getting into debt.

If you are struggling with benefits, budgeting, bills and debt then you can get help and support from one of our partners.

If you need help setting up your bills and planning your budget, use the tenancy-ready guide.

The free benefits calculator can be used to check to see if you are entitled to financial support.

Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding

Households who have not yet received their £400 energy bills support may now be eligible to apply via the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. This includes certain park home residents and partially or wholly self-funded care home residents.

Eligible households can complete a short online form.

Households without online access or who need support completing their application can contact the government helpline on 0808 175 3287, where a representative will guide you through the application process

Council Tax Support Fund 2023-24

Recognising the impact of rising bills, the government is distributing £100 million of new grant funding in 2023-24 for local authorities to support economically vulnerable households in their area with Council Tax bills.

Local authorities will use most of their funding allocations to reduce Council Tax bills for current working age and pension age Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) claimants by up to £25.

The remaining fund will then be used to further support vulnerable households with Council Tax bills.

If you are in receipt of Local Council Tax Support there is no need for you to contact us as the reduction will be automatically applied to your Council tax bill for 2023-24.                                                                                 

Further Alternative Fuel Payment for 2023

The government has recently announced it is also providing a further £200 Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) to help those households in Great Britain who use alternative fuels such as biomass or heating oil to meet energy costs this winter.

Those households who will need to apply for the AFP, for example because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier, will be able to do so in February, through the same GOV.UK portal as the one that will be used to apply for support under the EBSS Alternative Funding scheme.

900,000 households in England, Scotland and Wales without a direct relationship to an energy supplier - such as care home or park home residents - will be able to apply online for £400 of non-repayable help with their fuel bills. Applications will not be available until the end of January.

'It All Adds Up' energy-saving campaign

Government has launched the 'It All Adds Up' energy-saving campaign to raise public awareness of actions that people can take to cut their energy bills. The campaign promotes steps to help households save money on their energy bills with top tips including:   

• Reducing the temperature, a boiler heats water to before it is sent to radiators (known as the boiler flow temperature) from 75⁰C to 60⁰C, which will not reduce the temperature of your home but could save around £100 annually  
• Turning appliances off at the plug, which could save approximately £70 per year  
• Reducing heating loss from the property by putting draught excluders around doors or by adding clear film across windows, which could save around £60 a year 

Ofgem Energy Aware Campaign

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has launched its Energy Aware Campaign supporting consumers this winter with advice on their rights, financial schemes they are eligible for and energy saving tips.

The Energy Networks Association has also recently launched its annual Be Winter Ready campaign to help consumers prepare for winter. 

Support tools

• Warwickshire County Council has a useful support and information microsite. 
• Support is also available though the Cost of Living line on 0800 408 1449.
• You can also visit the Help for Households webpage for further cost of living support.
• We have produced a Positive Energy newsletter that contains a range of useful advice from childcare support to meal planning.

On Monday, 14 November 2022 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced the reopening of the Warm Home Discount Scheme which will provide a discount of £150 off electricity bills for three million low-income households this winter. Most households will receive the discount automatically. The government has launched a new online tool, to make it easier for the public to check eligibility for the discount.

Follow our social media accounts for regular updates on services.

We welcome any feedback to make this webpage work better for you. If you have any great ideas or suggestions, then we would love to hear them.

Email your suggestions to financial.inclusion@nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk.

Last updated Monday, 27th February 2023

• Next Council Tax Support Fund 2023-24