Advice and benefits

Details of support services available from the Council and some of its partners, for example advice on:

• benefits
• debt
• immigration
• health

You can use these pages to get help by email and find information about your rights.  

We also have links to other, quality assured, help that may be available to you.  These organisations provide free and confidential advice. 

We can also assist you in court and tribunals for some cases.  

Benefits

We manage the processing and payment of housing benefit and council tax benefit for people living in the Blackburn and Darwen area.

• Council tax benefit is paid to your council tax account to assist with your council tax charges. If you are not entitled to council tax benefit you may be entitled to second adult rebate.
• Housing benefit is a payment of benefit towards your rent and is either paid to you or your landlord/landlords agent.  It is normally paid straight into a bank account. 

We manage the payment of school clothing grants and entitlement to free school meals for children living in the Blackburn and Darwen area and process applications for Discretionary housing payments (DHP’s). If you receive housing benefit but it does not cover all of your rent and you are suffering financial difficulties as a result you can ask us to consider making you a payment from this fund.

Information on other benefits can be found on these pages and the Department for Work and Pensions website.