800,000 West Midlands families to receive new cost of living payment in spring
Up to 800,000 families in the West Midlands, on means-tested benefits, will automatically receive £300 this spring.
And more than 600,000 people on disability benefits in the region will receive a £150 payment this summer.
Details on support available to those eligible have been released by The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after confirming the payment schedule for five cost of living payments through the 2023/24 financial year.
In total, 208,800 families in Birmingham are eligible for the means-tested benefit cost of living payment, with 122,300 individuals entitled to a disability cost-of-living payment.
In other local authorities, for Dudley, those figures are 43,100 and 35,100 respectively and in Lichfield the numbers are 8,900 and 9,300.
For Walsall, the totals are 45,500 and 34,100 and for Wolverhampton, they are 46,000 and 29,800.
In South Staffordshire, numbers are 9,800 and 10,300 respectively while in Stafford, it's 11,700 and 12,100.
For Wyre Forest, figures are 11,800 and 10,900 and, in Tamworth, the numbers are 9,200 and 8,000.
In Shropshire the figures are 30,300 and 29,900 while figures for Telford & Wrekin are 24,200 and 22,000. In Powys, the numbers are 14,100 and 15,000.
The first cost of living payment is scheduled for the spring, a second in the autumn and a third in the spring 2024.
Also scheduled are a disability payment of £150 during the summer and a £300 pensioner payment during the winter.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: "These direct payments will help people right across the UK over this year and the start of the next, as we continue to provide consistent, targeted and substantial support for the most vulnerable.
“Our wider support package, including the Energy Price Guarantee, will ensure every household is being helped through this challenging period of high inflation, caused by Putin’s illegal war and the aftershocks of the pandemic.”
