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image source, Getty Images
The household budget support fund is scheduled to end at the end of March.
A former handyman says he plans to stop using all energy in his home once the government’s household support fund ends.
A man from Norwich, who asked not to be named, said he was only able to run his household appliances thanks to the £50 charge he put on his fuel card through the scheme.
The program was introduced during the coronavirus pandemic and is scheduled to end at the end of March.
“If the money stopped, everything would stop,” the man said.
Norfolk County Council has received £33 million from the government since the scheme began
The Household Support Fund was introduced in October 2021 and the funds can be used to help with utilities, water, food and essentials.
Funding has been extended several times but is scheduled to end on March 31st.
The 63-year-old man, who did not wish to be named, said he had no lights or heating in his home and was collecting rainwater in a bucket in his garden to wash his clothes.
“I’m still very careful about my actions and spending. You never know what’s going to happen around the corner,” he said.
“If something goes wrong, where are your interests? [are] If you stop it, it will shut down again and once you get used to it, you will deal with it. ”
image source, norfolk county council
The council’s cabinet member for finance, Andrew Jamieson, said the authority would continue to support parents eligible for free school meals over the Easter break.
Norfolk County Council says it has been given £33m since the scheme began and is lobbying Westminster to extend it.
Andrew Jamieson, the county council’s Conservative cabinet member for finance, said authorities would continue to support parents eligible for free school meals over the Easter holidays.
“You can see how it’s affecting some of the most vulnerable children,” he says.
In Suffolk, more than £10 million has been distributed to households by local councils and voluntary organizations as part of the fund.
Nicky Wilshere, chief executive of Citizens Advice Ipswich, said: “Without this fund, families would not be able to live on nothing, and families would not be able to live on nothing, and this would be at a level we have never seen before. It’s only going to get worse,” he said.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said it had invested more than £2 billion into the Household Support Fund over the past few years.
They added that they will continue to review all existing programs and cost-of-living measures.
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