Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt announced the opening of the Winter Fuel Support Scheme on Monday 13th December.
Eligible people in Wales may be able to claim a one-off 100 payment from their local authority to provide support towards paying their winter fuel bills. Information on how to apply will be available via local authority webpages.
Announcing the further funding package, Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt said:
Households in Wales are under unprecedented financial pressure, compounded by the cost-of-living crisis and the cruel decision by the UK government to end the uplift to Universal Credit, which has plunged many more adults and children into poverty.
Today builds on our previous announcements on the Household Support Fund as well as the Cold Weather Resilience plan, which sets out the actions we are taking, in collaboration with our partners, to safeguard vulnerable and lower income households during periods of cold weather.
So I'm delighted to announce that from Monday 13th December, the Winter Fuel Support Scheme will open. Local authorities will be contacting eligible households across Wales where they can identify potential eligibility for the scheme to invite applications for the payment. Anyone who is not contacted by their authority who believes they are eligible for the payment, can submit a claim via their local authority's website on Monday. It will be available to all eligible energy customers regardless of whether they pay for their fuel on a pre-payment or a credit meter.
I want to thank our partners in local government for ensuring the scheme was ready before Christmas. This will go some way to helping those in most need at this difficult time.
Finally the minister said:
We know that people across Wales are facing unprecedented challenges, that's why we're committed to doing everything we can to relieve financial pressures and help households with their living costs - supporting families, businesses and communities through these unprecedented times.