New cost of living support will be given to Buckinghamshire residents, the council has said, after it was allocated a further £2.4 million of government funding.

The money will be given out until the end of March 2025 to help people pay for food, fuel and other essential household costs, which have been hit by inflation.

Buckinghamshire Council has been granted the money through the Household Support Fund to help low-income households and those experiencing financial hardship.

This is the sixth tranche of funding the unitary authority has received from the Department for Work and Pensions.

A previous £2.4 million pot of funding was received by the council between April and September 2024.

This was used to provide more than 30,000 digital food vouchers to around 15,000 young people during May half-term and the summer holidays.

Funding was also provided to support over 60 voluntary and community sector initiatives and schemes ranging from cookery courses to lunch clubs.

Council leader Martin Tett told a cabinet meeting this week that the funding reached some of Buckinghamshire’s most vulnerable residents.

He said: “Many of them are short-term vulnerable. This is not about long-term dependency. This is not another strand of welfare for people who are on benefits for years and decades. This is about short-term help for people who have fallen on hard times.”

The council provides the funding through its ‘helping hand’ service, which processes applications for financial help.