OPENING times for council phone lines to apply for extra help with living costs were cut short after being overwhelmed.

A meeting of Dudley’s Health Select Committee on April 25 was told the lines were one of the ways people could apply for Household Support Fund (HSF) help.

The government allocated Dudley Council just over £13m from the HSF between October 2021 and March 2024 to provide help for people struggling to pay bills or buy food.

Between April 2023 and March 2024 the council received £5.2m from their funding and the committee was told phone lines for people to apply opened April 24 last year and were closed two hours later after receiving 1,044 applications.

On January 17 this year, lines closed after just 54 minutes following 1,161 applications.

Councillor Karl Denning said: “I know the first time the system opened it got overwhelmed, it is nobody’s fault, when it started we didn’t know how many people were in desperate need.”

Help can be accessed via a number of ways other than the phone lines including Cost of Living Hubs run by Citizens Advice, Family Hubs and Dudley CVS, more information is available on the council’s cost of living web page.

Between October 2021 and December 2023 Dudley paid out to 250,866 households and the  value of the help was highlighted in a report to councillors.

One resident said: “Since losing my job, it has really helped. I have been struggling financially and this has been a real help as I don’t have financial support of family members.

“This has enabled me to eat the food I need to with my IBS and diabetes. Food banks do not cater for my needs. 

“Also it helped with the rising cost of utility bills to prevent me from getting into debt."

Councillors clashed over whether more money could be provided to meet the demand.

Councillor Judy Foster believes the council should go back to the government and ask for extra cash.

She said: “There is a danger this is a sticking plaster, this might give some reprieve but how stable is that going forward?”

Councillor Ian Bevan, Dudley cabinet member for public health, said: “Prevention is the way forward, it is not just a case of asking for more money.

“That seems to be always the suggestion from your side, however much money you have had you would always ask for more.

“Throwing money at it is not the solution.”

Cllr Foster hit back, she said: “I agree prevention is important, I have had calls from people saying ‘it is closed or funding has finished but I need that help’.

“If there is a need not being met and the money is running out, that means there is not enough money.”

Dudley’s director of public health, Mayada Abuaffan, added: “If you don’t work on prevention and lifting people out of poverty then the richest country in the world won’t meet demand – that is not the role of public health.”