£30 rise in payments for crisis-hit households

Crisis payments for people in Sheffield who are facing severe financial difficulties have been raised by £30.

Single person households which qualify for help from Sheffield City Council's crisis and resilience fund will now be entitled to a one-off payment of £95, up from £65 previously.

Meanwhile, two-person households can apply for a payment of £110, while homes with three or four people are entitled to £120 if they qualify and households with five or more people can get £130, the authority confirmed.

Announcing the change, councillor Elle Dodd, chair of the authority's finance and performance policy committee, said life was "difficult and expensive" for "too many people" in Sheffield.

The fund can be used to help people buy essentials such as food, toiletries and utilities, the council's website stated.

The increase was put in place after a cost-of-living review conducted by the committee, which is made up of a group of Sheffield councillors.

The review found almost 50,000 households in Sheffield were struggling to make ends meet and could not pay their bills .

At least 7,000 crisis grants, totalling nearly £600,000, have already been awarded by the council since April.

Dodd said: "Behind every statistic is someone making impossible decisions, feeling stressed and looking for a little breathing room.

"We are determined to tackle the root causes of poverty, and to provide immediate support to those who need it.

"We are keeping tackling poverty and the cost of living firmly on the agenda."

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