East Lothian Council approved £518,000 in welfare grants, aiding struggling residents significantly last year.
A report showed the council’s actions. They approved £518,000 in grants, which were crisis and community care grants. The East Lothian Foodbank helped too, providing over 120,000 meals.
The report looked at austerity’s effects. It covered January to December of last year and the foodbank assisted 13,558 people then, a number that included 4,820 children needing food.
The council had many grant requests. They got 2,773 crisis grant requests and approved 1,551 of those. Community care grants totaled 1,214 applications, with the council granting 618 of them.
Council tax reductions are common there. Over one in ten households get them and a third of Band A homes qualify. Also, 26% of Band B homes get help via reductions or benefits.
The council members requested the report. They wanted cost of living crisis details and to know the crisis’s impact on locals. It’s in the council’s library now.
The authority supports struggling people. They invested in a Financial Inclusion Service that helps people get money they deserve and aims to increase household resources.
For every £1 invested, incomes rose a lot. Household income increased by £9.46 as people got more benefits and grants they might not have claimed otherwise.