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Summer support is on its way to Notts households who need it the most

Extra support is on its way to more than 27,000 households to help with rising bills – with 7,000 more people still entitled to apply. 
 
As part of the latest round of Government’s Household Support Fund (HSF), Nottinghamshire County Council has now written to all households eligible for this support.  

These include those who claim Pension Credit (whether guaranteed credit or savings credit) and families with children who are eligible for  Free School Meals or equivalent.

Eligible households living in Nottinghamshire who have received a letter for a summer payment and haven’t applied yet are being reminded they can do so in two ways before 30 September 2023. 

• The quickest and easiest way is via a simple online form: Apply for the household support fund - Introduction - Section 1 - config - Nottinghamshire County Council

• For those unable to complete the form online, the council’s customer service team on 0300 500 8080 will provide help, however waiting times continue to be longer than normal. Please note, the team’s opening times are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 4.30pm on Friday. 

The one-off summer payment is worth around £100, based on the number of eligible people in a household. 

Those who apply for their summer payment before 30 September will be registered automatically for a similar winter support payment,  so won’t need to apply again. 

Councillor John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Communities at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We’re really pleased to offer this latest round of help to those who are struggling the most, particularly due to rising costs of food and energy.
 
“It’s great news that more than 34,000 households are due to get this support. Thank you to everyone for their patience while we process these payments as soon as we can. 
 
“However, if you’ve been away or not got round to applying yet, please look out for a letter from us and apply as soon as you can, as we don’t want anyone to miss out.

“We are also aware that fraudsters can try to pass themselves off as Nottinghamshire County Council, so if you have any doubts when receiving this or any other letter from us, we’d encourage you to run the letter by family, friends, or someone you trust. 

“You can feel free to ring our customer service team to check the letter is genuine. We won’t be contacting anyone via text message.”

Anyone currently claiming Pension Credits or benefits-related Free School Meals and have not received a letter, can get in touch by emailing HouseholdSupportFund@nottscc.gov.uk and include  ‘Missing HSF letter’ is in  the email header.

Frontline staff across the county continue to identify households most in need, where the occupants are not of pensionable age and have no children, to ensure they receive support too.

Residents needn't contact the council if they know they are not eligible or if they have already been referred into the fund, as this will slow down the application process for those eligible.

For details of other help and support available from Nottinghamshire County Council and partners, please see our dedicated webpage:
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/business-community/cost-of-living-support

For those living in the City area, details of the City Council’s Household Support Fund  arrangements are available here: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/householdsupportvouchers