This past year has been a very tough one for so many people. Soaring inflation leading to rapidly rising food prices and the energy shock caused by Putin's disgraceful war on Ukraine have made it very difficult for thousands of households in Devon.

Our colleagues in the district councils across Devon have been doing their best to help the most needy people in their communities and we've been working with them at the county council.

We were able to build on our experiences working as Team Devon throughout the Covid crisis but who knew that would be immediately followed by the sort of cost of living shock that we are now experiencing.

So it is very gratifying that Devon County Council has secured £10 million from the Government's Household Support Fund. This is the fourth tranche of money we have secured from the fund. In total we have received around £25 million and this latest grant takes us up to next March.

This funding is to support households in most need – those who are struggling to pay for food, energy, water bills and other related essentials. It comes with conditions on how it can be allocated and it is also intended for those who may not be eligible for other government support.

So families with very low incomes, those in ill health and the homeless are among some of the many groups who can benefit.

For example in the past we've provided a grant to help Esteem Team in East Devon which supports families with disabled children. They provided things like hot water bottles and blankets to families over the course of the winter.

In Barnstaple and Bideford, Alabare Christian Care and Support used their funding to provide weekly food vouchers and additional Christmas food for supported housing residents.

And the Freedom Community Alliance in North Devon was able to continue supporting the homeless and the vulnerable through the coldest and wettest months of the year.

We will be spending some of the latest money on providing food vouchers for families who receive Free School Meals which they can exchange for food at supermarkets in the school holidays. As I've said here before, we've seen a big increase in the number of families qualifying for free school meals since Covid and we're heading towards a fifth of all children in school in Devon.

We will also be supporting eligible low-income households with children via our Early Help service and households which are in greatest financial need and struggling to pay for food, energy and other related essentials. This applies particularly to those who may not have received other Government cost of living payments and much of this funding will be distributed through the district councils.

Citizens' Advice Devon will be helping us by allocating funding to households which are using pre-payment and credit meters to help with their energy costs.

We're also asking for groups and organisations which support communities that don’t always get the help they need to apply for funding of up to £20,000.This includes homeless people, those in temporary or insecure housing or households with disabled residents.

We are intending that this grant scheme will provide a fast and flexible response to alleviate people's immediate situation. And I want to encourage applications from organisations and community groups which have significant experience and the structures in place to help the people who most need it.

You can find out more about the wide range of household support available on our website at devon.gov.uk and some of the specific grants I've mentioned on the Devon Community Foundation website at devoncf.com