‘Heat banks’, targeted payments and anti-poverty strategies: How Greater Manchester council's plans to keep you warm this winter

Households across Greater Manchester are bracing themselves for a long hard winter that it is feared could leave many choosing between heating and eating. The Bank of England has warned that a typical home will be paying almost £300 a month for their energy from October, with the price cap due to rise by 70pc.

Meanwhile the price of food, fuel and other unavoidable costs continues to skyrocket with inflation now set to hit 13pc. The charity National Energy Action predicts one in three consumers could be plunged into fuel poverty if energy bills rise as much as expected.

Against such a grim backdrop, Greater Manchester councils are already putting plans in place to help their residents get through the cold and worrying months that lie ahead. Among the measures being implemented are ‘heat banks’ - spaces where people who can't afford to heat their home can go to stay warm.

READ MORE : A quarter of people in Greater Manchester have cut back on meals as cost-of-living spirals

Town halls will also be targeting funding to those most at risk or in need, providing financial support and advice and implement wider anti-poverty strategies. Below is how each local authority in the region is planning to tackle the deepening cost of living crisis this winter.

Bury council has no plans to introduce heat banks at the moment, instead concentrating on identifying those in greatest need and ‘proactively assisting them’ in their own homes. Town hall bosses this week approved a new ‘cost of living/anti-poverty strategy, which includes ‘very targeted’ allocation of more than £1.5m in household support funding.

There is also an additional £340k to support people in specific ways - such as a £100 payment to all pensioners on council tax