Families that have been hardest hit by the pandemic and need extra support this winter with food and bills will benefit from a new £170 million scheme unveiled by the Government.

The COVID Winter Grant Scheme will see councils across England share £170 million in additional, ring-fenced funding to help vulnerable families and individuals, with Derbyshire County Council set to receive over £2.1m.

A further £220 million will be invested in extending the Holiday and Food Programme until next Christmas, meaning that all children eligible for Free School Meals will have the option to join a holiday-time programme that provides healthy food and fun activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays next year.

Commenting, Maggie Throup. Member of Parliament for Erewash said:

“No child should ever go hungry, and the extra £2.1m for Derbyshire County Council will ensure local families that need extra support with food and bills this winter can access it. This builds on the £808,000.00 already provided to the County Council this year to assist those struggling to buy food and essentials.

“I am also pleased that the Prime Minister has announced the extension of the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides healthy food and activities for children during the school holidays and has a massive impact on disadvantaged young people in our community.

“Investing in children’s future is central to the Conservative Party’s mission to level up and extend opportunity across the country, and with this additional support we can prevent the hunger we know is so damaging to a child’s life chances.”

To support people during this challenging time, the Conservative government has also invested more than £200 billion to protect people’s jobs and incomes through the furlough scheme, grants for the self-employed and other support for business and a £9.3 billion injection to strengthen the welfare safety net this year.