Cost of Living and welcoming places

These pages have helpful advice and information if you are struggling with the cost of living.

You can find help if:

Your money doesn't stretch far enough

• See if you are eligibile for any financial support from the Government
• Contact the Welfare Support Service
• Apply for housing benefit to help you pay your rent
• Apply for support to help you pay your council tax
• Make your money go further
• Get help with energy and bills
• Check if you are eligible for help with mortgage and loan interest payments

You suddenly don't have any money to pay for the essentials

• Contact the Welfare Support Service
• Get in touch with crisis support or one of South Tyneside's food banks
• Get help with education, employment and training
• See our money, debt and savings advice

You are waiting for a payment or a decision

• Contact the Benefits team

You are in debt and unable to pay what you owe

• You can contact:
  • Welfare Support Service
  • Citizen's Advice Bureau
  • Age Concern South Tyneside
• Attend one of CMA Connect's Drop ins
• See our money, debt and savings advice

You are struggling with other things that are affecting how you manage your money

• Contact the Lets Talk Team
• Talk to your GP
• Contact local mental health support services
• Speak to support and advice services
• Getting in touch with our homelessness and rough sleeping support services
• Go along to one of our welcoming places to stay warm, get support and advice and socialise

Welfare Support Service

The Welfare Support Service is the first point of contact for money advice in South Tyneside.

They provide debt, benefit and money advice on the phone, in your local area or if necessary, in your home.

The service is free, impartial and confidential.

Welfare Support Service

Support through the Local Welfare Provision Scheme

You may be eligible for support through our Local Welfare Provision Scheme.

Funding for this scheme has been increased using money from the Household Support Fund.

This scheme provides short term financial help if you have a financial crisis or need help with your daily living expenses because you are experiencing exceptional hardship.

You will need to apply for this fund to check if you are eligible.

Applications will be considered on a case by case basis. You will need to provide proof of your circumstances.

Support is provided in the form of vouchers that you can use for food and energy.

Apply for the Local Welfare Provision Scheme

Household Support Fund

South Tyneside Council is working closely with partners on how to allocate a new round of Household Support Funding from Government for April 2025 to March 2026.

The fund for 2024 / 2025 finished on 31 March 2025. For information on how it was used, see Household support fund.

The Government has announced extra support for families to help with cost of living pressures.

Please note: These are government schemes. South Tyneside Council is not responsible for administering this support.

GOV.UK: Cost of living support

Debt Relief Orders (DROs)

The Government is making changes to Debt Relief Orders (DROs) to make sure that people in problem debt get the support they need. 

This includes:

• the £90 application fee being removed
• the maximum debt you're allowed to be in to apply increasing from £30,000 to £50,000

The Welfare Support Team also have debt advisors who can help you decide if a DRO is an appropriate option for you.

Welcoming places are free public places where residents can go to get warm, save money on their heating costs, avoid social isolation, and receive support and advice.

A number of organisations and venues have pledged their support to residents.

For the venues offering a warm place, see the list South Tyneside welcoming places.

For money, debt and savings advice see, benefits, money and debt advice.

South Tyneside Council provides:

• Housing Benefit
  Help to pay your rent if you are on a low income
• Council Tax Support
  Help to pay your Council Tax if you're on a low income

The government provides other benefits, such as Universal Credit, Tax Credits, Job Seeker's Allowance and low-income benefits, disabilities benefits and benefits for families.

You can use an independent, free benefits calculator to check what you could be entitled to see, GOV.UK: Benefits calculator.

Entitledto

Entitledto is an organisation which works with councils and housing associations to help people claim benefits - it provides an easy to use calculator to help people find out what they are entitled to and go on to make a claim.

These support services can help if you are struggling to pay for your energy and bills.

• British Gas Energy Trust
  Helping families and individuals experiencing hardship who are struggling with energy debts.
• OVO Energy Fund
  Helping people who've fallen behind with their energy payments to OVO.
• E.ON Energy Fund
  Helping the most vulnerable existing or previous customers of E.ON Energy. The Fund can help pay current or final E.ON energy bill arrears to customers living in England, Scotland or Wales.
• EDF customer support fund
  Providing support for those who may be struggling with their household energy bills. From insulation and replacement heating systems to energy-efficient white goods.
• Scottish Power Hardship Fund
  If you're on a lower income and are struggling to pay your energy bills, you may be eligible for the ScottishPower Hardship Fund.
• LEAP
  A free service that is helping people keep warm and reduce their energy bills without costing them any money.
  If you're on a lower income and are struggling to pay your energy bills, you may be eligible for the ScottishPower Hardship Fund.
• Support with heating and insulation (Energy Company Obligation)
  Home energy efficiency measures such as insulation and upgrading inefficient heating for low income and fuel-poor households.
• Stay Switched on Campaign: Let's Help our Communities Keep Safe
  Sign up to your energy supplier's priority service register to see if you're eligible for extra support.
• Northumbrian Water SupportPlus
  If you're on a low income, less than £17,005 per annum, or receive pension credit, Northumbrian Water may be able to reduce your bill by up to 50%.
• Northumbrian Water WaterSure
  If you have a water meter Northumbrian Water will cap your metered charges, if you use more water than average, for reasons that can't be helped, such as a disability.
• Northumbrian Water Financial Support
  Offering a range of ways to help if you are struggling with water bills.
• Energy saving tips to save money
  There are lots of things you can do at home to reduce the amount of energy you use.
• Good Things Foundation: National Databank
  Providing free data to 500,000 people in need, in partnership with Virgin Media O2, Vodafone and Three.
• Help for Households campaign - social tarrifs
  Internet Service Providers (IPS) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) delivering low-cost broadband and phone service packages for those on low incomes. Use the social tariff toolkit or see the campaign.
• Home Energy Advice North East
• If you own your home or rent from a private landlord call Home Energy Advice North East on 0808 175 9345 to speak to an energy advisor about reducing your energy costs or making energy saving home improvements.

Apply for energy bill support if you do not get it automatically

Most households in England, Scotland and Wales get a £400 discount on their energy bills automatically.

In some cases, you do not get the discount automatically, for example if you:

• pay for energy through a landlord, housing manager or site owner
• live in a park home, houseboat or off the electricity grid

If you do not get the discount automatically, you can apply for it on the GOV.UK website:

GOV.UK: Apply for energy bill support if you do not get it automatically

Help if you use alternative fuels for heating

You may be eligible for a £200 Alternative Fuels Payment (AFP) if both the following are true:

• your household is not connected to the mains gas grid
• you use alternative fuels as your main form of heating

This is on top of the £400 from your electricity supplier.

You're eligible for this payment if the main way you heat your home uses:

• tank or bottled gas
• liquid petroleum gas (LPG)
• oil
• wood
• solid fuel

For more information, see

GOV.UK: Help if you use alternative fuels for heating

There are lots of ways you can save money which you might not know about.

To find out how you can make your money go further see, Money and debt advice: Make your money go further. 

• Crisis support
  If you have a financial crisis, you may be able to get short-term financial help.
• Food banks
  Food banks supply food parcels for individuals and families in crisis.
• Greggs Foundation Hardship Fund
  Grants may be available from the Greggs Foundation Hardship Fund for white goods / carpets / baby items / clothing and vouchers for food shopping.
• Eon Next
  A replacement scheme for white goods if they become broken or are in a poor condition.
• Want Not (CIC)
  Want Not is a Community Interest Company (CIC) dedicated to reducing waste and providing affordable, preloved furniture and household items.

• South Tyneside Works
  South Tyneside Works offers a range of over 250 courses to help you get into work, change career path and to improve your skills. Eligible learners will be fully funded and have nothing to pay towards the cost of the course.
• Employment and training agencies in South Tyneside
  Agencies in South Tyneside to help you get back into work, training, or education, or support you with setting up your own business.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
  Help and support from the Local Government Pension Scheme during the cost of living crisis.

• ​​​​​Free school meals
  Information on how you can get free school meals.
• School transport
  You may be able to get help with school transport.
• Help with school uniform costs
  See if you're eligible to receive extra financial help towards the cost of school uniform.

• Healthcare travel costs scheme
  You may be able to claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.
• Travel passes
  A lot of travel passes can get you access to discounts and help you with travel costs.

• Mental health breathing space
  If you have debts and are unable to repay them, you may be able to get some breathing space from your creditors until your mental health condition improves.
• Advice and support services
  Support to stop smoking, gambling, reducing your alcohol intake and more.

If you are struggling with homelessness please get in touch with our homelessness and rough sleeping support services.