Councillors have agreed to provide £150,000 to Citizens Advice in North Yorkshire to reduce winter deaths and help vulnerable people stay warm in cold weather.
Members of North Yorkshire Council voted to give £50,000 a year over the next three years to the organisation to run its Warm and Well scheme.
The funding was agreed by councillors at a full council meeting on Friday after being proposed by Labour member, Councillor Liz Colling.
A similar request was rejected by the authority last year.
The councillor said:
“You will be aware that the intent of this motion is identical to the one the Labour group proposed last year.
“At that time we were unsuccessful but in the intervening period we have had ongoing discussions and I’d like to place on record my thanks to officers and the leadership of the council in bringing this forward again.”
The meeting heard that 10,000 people were helped by the service in North Yorkshire in 2024.
She added:
“The £50,000 does not cover the full cost of running the service, but it serves as base funding through which Citizens Advice secures additional funds from sources like British Gas Energy Trust and Northern Powergrid.
“In total, this allowed Citizens Advice to bring in around £650,000 a year for energy funding in North Yorkshire, employing 20 individuals and running a countywide telephone service.
“This supports the most vulnerable in our communities at low cost to this authority, and I suggest it is an excellent investment of a modest amount of money to raise those benefits for our residents.”
Seconding the motion, Councillor Steve Shaw-Wright said:
“I think it will be the best £50,000 year this council spent for a long time.”
Councillor Michael Harrison, executive member for health and adult services, supported the funding request, saying other councils were cutting funding to voluntary organisations
He added:
“We’re in a position where we value what these organisations do and therefore seek to protect their funding.
“There is other monies that go towards them, but there’s no doubt that the Warm and Well initiative, and the benefits that come from that, are really valued.”
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