Households across Devon are set to receive financial support for energy and food bills.

The government has announced a continuation of the household support funding, which will run until the end of March 2025.

The funding aims to assist households struggling with the costs of energy, food, water, and other essentials.

Devon County Council will receive a share of the Household Support Fund, as it has each year since 2021.

The allocation, like previous ones, is a little over £5 million.

The council is currently in discussions on how to distribute the funds, working closely with Devon's eight district, city, and borough councils, as well as voluntary and community partners.

Citizens Advice Devon will be one of the recipients of the Household Support Funding, enabling them to continue supporting people struggling to meet their energy needs.

The support comes in the form of fuel voucher payments and longer-term relief of fuel poverty through initiatives that help homes become more energy-efficient.

With energy costs expected to rise again this winter, the charity anticipates an increase in households seeking help with their energy needs.

The Devon Community Foundation will also continue to receive Household Support Funding to assist communities that are underserved by other support programmes and are therefore likely to be more severely impacted by the cost of living crisis.

Since Devon County Council first allocated Household Support Funding to the Devon Communities Foundation in 2022, the charity's Food, Fuel and More programme has distributed more than £1.3 million in grants.

This latest round of Household Support Fund allows the County Council to continue providing Free School Meal holiday vouchers to families whose children are eligible for benefit-related free school meals during term time.

The holiday vouchers will help pay for food shopping for around 22,000 pupils during the October Half Term, Christmas, and February Half Term holidays.

Pensioners and households receiving welfare benefits will also have access to the Household Support Fund.

The County Council and District Councils are discussing how to best make the funding available to those households in greatest need this winter.

Final details will be published on each District Council’s Household Support Fund webpage as soon as arrangements are finalised.

Devon’s Early Help team will continue to provide support to families with children who are struggling financially.

Referrals to the fund will be made via the professionals who work closely with families.

Young adults who have been in the care of Devon County Council—care leavers—will continue to receive financial support towards their energy and food costs, as part of the County Council and District Councils’ joint commitment to supporting care leavers.

Councillor Roger Croad, the Council's Cabinet Member with responsibility for communities, said: "We're pleased that the government has been able to provide another Household Support Fund through to next Spring, which will be welcome news to a lot of households in Devon who are struggling with the cost of living.

"As the new fund was announced only recently, we haven't yet finalised exactly how we're going to make this latest round of funding available to households, but we will continue to work with our partners to make sure it's used to support those in need who are struggling to pay for energy, food, water and other essential items.

"We’ll confirm the arrangements as soon as it’s been agreed with our partners."