The Welsh Government has set out a £130 million cost-of-living package that widens eligibility for a planned £100 energy payment and provides separate support for some households using heating oil or liquefied petroleum gas.
The package also includes money for councils to help households in hardship and a temporary grant to help bus, school and community transport operators with fuel costs. Ministers announced the wider package on 9 November and gave further details of the transport scheme on 10 November.
Who is covered by the £100 payment?
Households in council tax bands A to D are included in the planned £100 energy payment. The Welsh Government had already announced that part of the payment in October, following the UK Budget.
Under the latest package, the payment is also to be extended to people receiving support through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, regardless of their property’s council tax band. That means the announced extension is not limited to homes in bands A to D.
Council Tax Reduction can help eligible low-income households with some or all of their council tax. The amount of support depends on individual circumstances, including income, capital and who lives in the household.
The government has also allocated £8 million for local authorities to extend the £100 payment to households facing financial hardship who are not covered by the other schemes. It says full guidance on this element will be made available to councils.
Details matter for residents who may be unsure whether they qualify. The announcement did not set out a complete timetable for payments or establish whether everyone will receive them automatically. The government says it is working with councils on how the scheme will operate and that further information will follow.
Help for heating oil and LPG users
A further £5 million is being provided for a £250 payment towards off-grid fuel costs. It is intended for households that qualify for Council Tax Reduction on income grounds and depend on heating oil or liquefied petroleum gas, known as LPG.
The conditions are important: using an off-grid heating system alone is not enough to establish eligibility for this payment. The announcement specifies heating oil and LPG, rather than every type of fuel used by homes away from the gas network.
The £250 support is a separate element of the package from the £100 energy payment. The announcement does not settle every question about how the schemes will be administered or whether an individual household can receive both, so residents should look out for the detailed guidance.
Temporary help for transport
The package includes £7 million for bus, school and community transport providers facing higher fuel costs. The money is part of the £130 million total, not an additional award on top of it.
Called Bus Services Support Grant Plus, the temporary scheme is to be distributed through local authorities. Ministers say the aim is to help protect services and passengers from fare rises, rather than a guarantee that every route or fare will remain unchanged.
The government says the scheme will end at the first of three points: when the average diesel price has stayed below 170p a litre for four consecutive weeks, when the £7 million has been used, or at the end of the 2026–27 financial year. It will not continue into the following financial year.
The new grant sits alongside existing bus funding. For 2026–27, the government says its Bus Network Grant has risen from £42 million to £44.5 million and its existing Bus Services Support Grant from £25.5 million to £26.5 million. Those increases are separate from the new £7 million grant.
What happens next?
The Welsh Government says it will also boost its Claim What’s Yours campaign, which is intended to help people find out what support they may be entitled to. The package combines direct household payments with funding for councils and transport operators, so not all of the headline sum is paid directly to residents.
People seeking to check their council tax circumstances can contact their local authority. The government has advised households to rely on official Welsh Government and council information and to be alert to possible scams as payment arrangements are developed.
