Food prices have reached record highs recently with most people raising eyebrows at the cost of a weekly supermarket shop. Over a five-year period, UK consumer prices rose by 28.2% (since 2020) the House of Commons Library reported last month.

Eligible households are set to receive up to £190 in supermarket vouchers for food and other household essentials this winter. The support is provided through the Government’s Household Support Fund, which is distributed to councils across England to help vulnerable households with the cost of living. The pot is worth a staggering £742million this year, and a portion of the funding is allocated to each council to offer support until March 31, 2026. Local councils independently decide how to share the cash, so there may be different eligibility criteria depending on where you live.

North Yorkshire Council has confirmed it will be making cost of living payments of £190 to eligible households from October 8 and those who qualify will receive a single e-voucher payment of £190 for food and other essentials.

The voucher can be used at nine different supermarkets, including Aldi, Asda, Farmfoods, Iceland, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

Only Asda, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose offer both in-store and online shopping for those allocated with the single e-voucher.

North Yorkshire Council explained: “Look out for your e-voucher in your email inbox. It could take up to 72 hours for the email to arrive. Remember to check your spam folder. The email will come from northyorks@select-essentials.co.uk and the email subject will be ‘Your Select code has arrived!’.

“Get your voucher by email and go shopping using your smartphone, or with a printed voucher if you prefer. You do not need to spend your voucher all in one go. If you do use a printed voucher, please look after it the same as you would money.

“Select the supermarket you would like to shop with. You can choose from more than one supermarket to split your e-voucher and you will need to select vouchers to the full amount. Then enter your name and email address to check out. Once you have redeemed your vouchers, you will not be able to change the supermarket.”

Qualifying households must already be getting a discount of at least 75% on their council tax as of September 1, 2025 – this would be in place already via the means-tested Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Single people living alone who already receive the 25% single occupancy discount for council tax will not be eligible for these e-vouchers from the Government’s Household Support Fund this winter.

Those who qualify will be contacted by letter or email by October 23, 2025 with instructions on how to claim the e-voucher online using a unique code, however local authorities are warning people to beware of scams. The deadline to claim and select the e-voucher is November 12, 2025.

Those who think they should be eligible and haven’t received a letter can check the council’s eligibility checker.

Local authorities elsewhere in England have confirmed similar scheme on their websites, you can check out your council and area by visiting the website relevant to your location.

Generally, the relevant authority in your area will contact you by letter if you are eligible, but you can also get in touch with your local council if you are struggling.