The cold snap earlier this month brought the first snow of the winter and some freezing temperatures across Wales.

The ongoing cost of living crisis is causing a significant hardship for many families and residents across the County Borough and, whilst the Conservative U.K. Government are allowing the crisis to deepen, the Labour-led Welsh Government and RCT Council are trying to provide support for those hardest hit.

In September, Cabinet agreed proposals for a local Supplementary (Discretionary) Cost of Living Support Scheme that focussed on 4 specific areas:

• £75 payment (per family) to families of electively home-schooled children and families of a child / children that attend a school outside of RCT but live within the County. Around 22,000 families will be entitled to this element of the scheme, costing £1.65million.

• £50,000 support package for local food banks and food support grants

• £125 one-off payment to Council staff at Grades 1-6. 5,800 staff are eligible. The cost of this element of the scheme would be £940,000.

• £250,000 discretionary fund for residents who demonstrate extreme financial hardship as a direct result of the Cost of Living crisis.

The Council has a dedicated Cost of Living Support page on its website that signposts residents to all of the available help and support from the Welsh Government and the Council, and also provides information on eligibility criteria where necessary.