SWT Council Business Bulletins

Benefice Newsletter 11th March

Waste update including new summer opening times

Somerset Covid-19 Updates including Jab walk in centres

New Council for Somerset

On 1April 2023, Somerset will become a unitary authority, replacing the current County Council and four District Councils with a single council governing the whole area. Find out more here.

Somerset Household Support Fund

£3.8m to help support Somerset households with food and bills this winter

SCC has been allocated £3.8m from the Government’s Household Support Fund which will be used to ensure there is a wide range of support available to those who need it between now and the end of March 2022.

The Somerset Household Support Fund is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and administered by Somerset County Council. The fund is designed to provide short-term financial support to vulnerable households which are struggling to afford household essentials this winter.

These households will need help with the cost of food, energy, water bills and other essentials. The fund is being distributed by the Citizens Advice organisations in Somerset which are assisting Somerset County Council

Please click here to read the full press release.

To find out more about how to apply and check eligibility criteria, please click here.

Avon and Somerset Police (ASP)

Phone users urged to beware of fake WhatsApp message scam

ASP are asking people to be wary and report an increasingly common scam where fraudsters use WhatsApp to dupe victims into transferring money by pretending to be their child.

Typically, the fraudster will send a message from a mobile phone number that the victim doesn’t recognise and begin a conversation by saying something non-specific, such as ‘Hi Mum’ or ‘Hi Dad’. They then go on to claim they have lost their phone, or it has been damaged and are now using a different number.

The victim, concerned for their child’s welfare, often responds by asking if the person at the other end is really their son or daughter and inadvertently tells the fraudster what their child’s name is, who in turn texts back to confirm that it is them.

The fraudster will then claim there is a time-critical emergency and that they need funds – such as they have a problem with their bank account and urgently need to pay a bill – so they ask the victim to transfer money to a different account to the one they would normally use.

In the first two months of this year more than 75 people in Avon and Somerset reported financial losses totalling more than £80,000 through this scam to Action Fraud, but it is likely that the true cost is much higher.

Please click here to read the full press release.