A package of dedicated support measures to help residents bearing the brunt of the cost of living crisis has been renewed and could become a “forever project”.

Medway Council agreed to extend a scheme which supports vulnerable people in the Towns through financial aid, advice, and projects to help people make their money go further.

The local authority said it would continue its cost of living response plan (CoLRP) for as long as it’s needed.

At the cabinet meeting on July 30, councillors discussed the updated plans which extended council tax schemes, debt management advice, free activities for children from low-income families, and health programmes to help people quit smoking, among others.

The plans were first put in place in July last year and aimed to help those in urgent need, help residents make the most of their incomes, support their health and mental well-being, and provide guidance on how to get financial stability.

Speaking at the meeting, portfolio holder for climate change and strategic regeneration Cllr Simon Curry (Lab) said: “It focuses to a certain extent on the urgent issues where we have to step in almost immediately and the ability for the people in need to communicate effectively when they are in urgent need.

“But also the underlying, long-term issues have to be dealt with as well - so this is a 2024/25 plan but there will be a 2025/26 plan and it will go on whilst we keep having the problems we have to address.

“This is one of those forever projects we will not give up on now we’ve started the process.”

Part of the plan aims to continue to help reduce household bills by supporting home efficiency improvements, such as installing solar panels and air-source heat pumps, as well as insulation improvements funded by energy suppliers through the Energy Company Obligation scheme.

In the last year, the council provided £4.5million through the central government-funded household support fund (HSF) which delivered supermarket and school uniform vouchers, energy cards, as well as providing free school meals for 12,491 eligible children during the holidays.

The fund will continue to be used to provide aid until it comes up for renewal in September and can be used for food and home essentials, energy, water, essentials linked to energy and water and housing rental costs in exceptional circumstances.

The CoLRP also enables residents who are on low incomes or struggling to access council tax reduction schemes and provides advice and assistance to households at risk of homelessness.

Last year the council also implemented the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT), which identifies families and people eligible for support but not accessing it.

It says it found 1,832 pensioners in need of help with food and fuel costs over winter, which the authority helped for £500,000.

However some aspects of last year’s CoLRP could not be continued due to the council having to make cutbacks and savings because of its tightening financial situation.

Council leader Vince Maple (Lab) said: “Of course we’ve had to take some difficult decisions as a council, so some things that were in there last year aren’t in there this year.

“There is a recognition as well that at this stage there are some things which are funded which throughout this year ahead there isn’t absolute clarity as to their future - of course we’ll look carefully as we go through the year for updates accordingly.”

Items which have been removed from the plan include the cuts to free swimming for under-16s and over 60s and the authority’s annual festival offering which has been reduced to budget cuts.

Councillors referenced the changes to the winter fuel payments which were announced by the chancellor on July 29 and encouraged residents to seek out what support was available to them.

In the 2022/23 winter, 11.4 million pensioners accessed support for winter fuel payments, but only 1.4 million receive the pension credit - though it is estimated another million are eligible but do not claim it.

Cllr Maple said: “There is a job for us to do as a council to say if you are entitled to pension credit you should be claiming it.

“It’s not charity, it’s not a hand-out, we have a welfare state for a reason. We need to encourage people as much as we can to sign up to get the support they need.”

The council said because the plan covers various departments of the authority, with much of the activity already planned and included within budgets, it was unable to provide a total figure for the cost of the plan.

The full CoLRP is available to view by clicking here .

You can find out what help is available to you on the council’s website here.

The renewed plan for 2024/25 was approved unanimously by the cabinet on July 30.