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Inverness councillors agree funding for city’s winter payment scheme

£200,000 Inverness Common Good Funding will be used to finance the venture.

Money sits in front of a smart merter on a household table.
Eligible households will be awarded £106 this winter to help towards household bills. Image: Shutterstock.

Inverness councillors have agreed to invest £200,000 to help local households heat their homes this winter.

Winter Discretionary payments will be allocated to vulnerable families meet the cost of rising energy bills.

Inverness Common Good Fund will cover the extra cost, with £200,000 set aside.

Local representatives have agreed eligible households will be awarded a one-off payment of £106 through the scheme.

The payment is £44 less than the £150 payment given out last year following an increase by Highland Council.

A person turns up the heat on the radiator.
Highland councillors have agreed to allocate £200,000 Inverness Common Good Funding towards the Winter Discretionary Payments Scheme for 2023/ 2024.Image: Shutterstock.

Councillors have agreed to review the scheme at their scheduled meeting on November 20 to repurpose any underspent in the Inverness Common Good Fund and increase the payment.

Leader of Inverness and Area committee Ian Brown said the grants will go a long way in helping people cope throughout the winter season.

He said: “Last year in 2022/23 1,694 households received payments from the Inverness Area Winter Payments Scheme. These payments and other packages of financial support are a lifeline for many individuals.

“The Winter Payment of £106 for those eligible will have a positive impact on individuals struggling financially and to people receiving disability benefits, who are also more likely to be negatively impacted by increased costs of living.”

Who is eligible to apply?

Grants will be allocated to residents living within the seven Inverness wards; including, Aird and Loch Ness, Culloden and Ardersier, Inverness Central, Inverness South, Inverness West, Ness-side and Millburn.

Applications will open to entrants from December 1 until February 19, 2024.

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