Requests double for Leeds emergency help scheme

In just one month requests for help went up by almost 80%, according to a council report

An emergency scheme for people struggling to afford food and fuel has seen appeals for help more than double in just 12 months.

The local welfare support scheme run by Leeds City Council dealt with 963 applications in August this year, compared with 434 in August 2021, officials said.

In a single month, between July and August this year, there was a 78% jump in requests for help, a council report said.

Most of the people now asking for help have "never previously applied to the scheme", the report added.

The programme typically offers short-term emergency help such as supermarket vouchers, fuel vouchers, white goods, furniture and flooring, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It added: "The most common reason for applying was due to the rising cost of living and applicants' income no longer meeting their outgoings."

The support scheme is set to be expanded to help reach more people following a council review of the service which found its eligibility rules were "outdated" and "inconsistently applied".

People who had never previously applied to the scheme were asking for help, according to the council

People who were on low incomes but who did not receive benefits were not previously entitled to help from the scheme. However, under the proposed changes, they would be.

The council's deputy head of customer contact, Nick Hart, said: "Where previously only those on benefits were accepted, it will recognise the rise in in-work poverty and current cost-of-living crisis.

"So under the new proposed eligibility criteria you'll see that low incomes as a broader criteria is included in that."

The scheme's low-income threshold had previously been set at £10,000 a year.

"We don't want to be in that place now - you could be earning £20,000 and still be struggling in the current climate I would argue," Mr Hart said.

In addition people would be able to apply in person at one of the council's customer contact centres, where they would be supported to fill out a form "there and then", he added.

Mr Hart told councillors at a policy meeting: "We don't want to say to someone, 'No you can't access this scheme'. And that's that.

"We want to be able to support people no matter what."

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