School holiday supermarket vouchers will continue to be made available to struggling Hertfordshire families this winter, following the extension of a government grant.

The vouchers – for families eligible for benefit related free school meals – will be funded from part of the council’s latest £6.17m allocation from the Household Support Fund.

They will be made available during the Christmas and February half-term holidays at a rate of £15 a week.

The vouchers are just one of the ways the county council is set to allocate the grant to support vulnerable residents with essential living costs – such as energy, food and water.

On Monday (November 4) the plans were approved by a meeting of the council’s cabinet.

According to the plans, the school holiday supermarket vouchers will account for £2.4m of the overall grant – with a further £105,000 allocated to support homeless families and £560,782 to provide ‘winter essentials’ to ‘families in crisis’.

Also included in the plans are a further £850,000 of vouchers for food, energy, water or other essentials that will be available through HertsHelp – and £550,000 through district and borough councils.

Around £200,000 will be made available to food organisations, such as foodbanks and a further £200,000 in energy grants – with £33,000 for the ‘warm spaces’ programme in libraries.

Others set to benefit from the range of schemes include care leavers and those with learning difficulties over the age of 19, gypsy and travellers and refugees.

There’s £55,000 that’s been allocated for ‘festive grants’ to provide food and drinks for a variety of community events.

There will also be £150 vouchers available to pensioners who are ‘new’ to Pension Credits.

At the meeting, the plans were presented to the cabinet by executive member for children, young people and families Cllr Fiona Thomson – who is also deputy leader of the council.

She said that since 2021 the council had received more than £40m from the Household Support Fund, and that the latest allocation would be used to provide additional support to vulnerable households with the costs of energy, water bills, food and wider essentials.

She highlighted supermarket vouchers to be made available during the school holidays to families in receipt of benefit related free school meals.

And she also catalogued items that included vouchers for care leavers and the provision of winter essentials – such as slow cookers,  warm bedding and winter coats – to low income families in crisis.

Meanwhile leader of the county council Cllr Richard Roberts also highlighted the scale of the funding received from the Household Support Fund, which was launched in 2021.

“It is quite staggering that the support post-covid – and during covid- has been some £40m,” he said.

“I think it is the partnership work that was honed and developed and brought to help so many during that period that helps us make sure that this money is well spent and arrives with those that most need it.”

“I think this is probably – at a time when the winter fuel allowance has been rescinded, the government has removed that – I think that this Household Support Fund really does help to step-in and bridge some of that gap.

“I am really, really pleased that both the previous government responded to the needs of our most vulnerable population and this government has as well – and we should recognise that.”