West Devon Council to provide support payments for care leavers

Support payments of £500 are to be given to people leaving the care system in West Devon.

West Devon Borough Council will use money from its latest share of the government’s  Household Support Fund (HSF) which helps people who are most vulnerable and finding it hard to pay for essentials.

The money will go to the 17 people who have left local authority care in the borough and others who leave before September.

It is expected to cost around £25,000, based on a total of 25 care leavers.

West Devon is one of many Devon councils supporting a 100 per cent council tax discount for care leavers, which is a priority group.

As something called ‘corporate parents’ the local authority is going one step further whilst recognising not all care leavers are liable for council tax, so did not benefit from the discount scheme.

The remainder of the council’s HSFfor the next six months is £112,000 and  will be allocated through an open application process.

The money the council gets, a share of £5 million given to Devon County Council, is based on Universal Credit uptake for West Devon.

Households identified as vulnerable and struggling to buy food, water and energy, such as those receiving council tax reduction, war pensioners, carers and residents with disabilities,  are eligible for payments.

Cllr Jane Elliott (Green, Chagford) who is responsible for community wellbeing, told the council’s ‘hub’ committee that around 1,200 households in West Devon were helped last year through the fund.

She said that accounted for about five per cent of households in the borough, with £200 for each on average.

As the new scheme only runs for six months, the recommendation to the committee was that the bulk of funding is used for an open application scheme, which means the council would be able to support vulnerable households based on need and as soon as possible.