The leader of Orkney council has said the local authority is ‘delighted’ with the uptake seen so far for its £200 cost-of-living crisis payment.
This is despite only around a third of Orcadian households that qualified for the grant award taking the council up on its offer.
In December, the council decided it should offer a one-off payment to the majority of households in the area. Councillors decided to double a £100 payment proposed by officers.
The local authority predicted that 8,550 of the council area’s 11,000 households should qualify for this payment.
It made £1,710,000 available from its Strategic Reserve Fund. Estimates showed this would be the total cost if every eligible household got the £200 payment.
However, with the application window of April 30 swiftly approaching, the council says it has only paid out £491,200 to 2,456 applicants.
The council says some applications haven’t yet been processed – so there are still more currently in the pipeline.
But the figures given show the uptake is not far over a third of the maximum.
The council says the money not dished out through the cost-of-living payments will simply remain in the strategic reserve fund.
Who qualifies for the payment?
The council’s £200 payment has automatically been dished out to anyone in receipt of benefits or entitlements. It estimated this to be around 1,500 households in the county.
These recipients should have received their £200 two or three weeks after the application window opened on January 25th.
However, the payment is also available to another 7,000 people who have to apply to get it. This includes:
- those on universal or pension credit,
- those who get council exemption due to being under 18 or care-experienced young people.
- Working people who meet a low-income threshold and have savings of less than £6,000
It was impossible to know how many were eligible says council leader
Back in December, when councillors were viewing the plans for the payment, they were told that, in general, the uptake for welfare schemes is around 40% to 60%.
At that time the council leader, James Stockan said the council would have to make sure it was “attractive to apply”.
Speaking this week, the council leader said the local authority is delighted to have seen nearly 2,500 benefit from the £200 payment.
Mr Stockan said: “This means half a million pounds of additional money potentially circulating within the local economy.
“We made up to £1.71 million available from the strategic reserve fund based on projections, however, it was impossible to know exactly how many households would be eligible.
“The money will simply remain within the fund.
Mr Stockan added: “We tried to make the thresholds as generous as possible to try and ensure we were able to ensure the money was getting to those who most needed it.
“We have received some wonderful feedback from grateful families who have shared their stories.
“The next stage of this is through the Council funded and Voluntary Action Orkney-led Orkney Money Matters (OMM) partnership project.
This is aimed at improving access to advice and cash-based support for anybody worrying about money in Orkney.
“The OMM project is a great example of us working together as we look to support local families and householders through challenging financial circumstances – providing much-needed advice, support, and listening ears.”
Free and confidential advice about money is available from Orkney Citizens Advice Bureau by calling 01856 875266. They can also be contacted via emailingbureau@orkneycab.casonline.org.uk.
Further information is also available at www.orkney.gov.uk/helpinghand
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