Councils call on Government to extend vital fund as demand for welfare support expected to rise

Councils are calling on the Government to extend vital funding which helps the most vulnerable households with essential food and energy costs.

The Household Support Fund (HSF), allocated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), made £842million available to councils from April 1, 2023. This included more than £6million to Croydon council and about £5.5million to both Lambeth and Southwark councils.

The fund is due to expire at the end of September. But, in a recent Local Government Association (LGA) survey, 94 per cent of councils said the fund should continue, while nearly 60 per cent said they would not be able to provide additional funding for welfare assistance if the fund ends.

The LGA is urging the government to extend the fund for at least six months to avoid an “impending cliff-edge” in support.

A spokesman from Lambeth council said: “With the October half term coming up, three weeks after the current HSF is set to end, confirmation of continuing support is urgently needed.”

This year alone, Lambeth council used £2.7million from its HSF allocation to set up projects supporting the boroughs most vulnerable. This follows support worth £14million distributed to  28,000 households across the borough over the last two years in response to the cost of living crisis.

The council said single parents, carers and people from ethnic minority communities are disproportionately represented among the poorest in the borough.

The spokesman said: “An extension of the HSF beyond September would allow us to continue providing vital support to the borough’s lowest income residents, particularly households with children in receipt of free school meals during the school holidays.”

Stephanie Cryan, Southwark’s cabinet member for equalities, democracy and finance said the HSF has helped support more than 50,000 residents as part of the council’s cost of living fund since 2021.

Support included free school meals for children during the holidays, help with energy bills, and practical emergency support for people facing a crisis.  

The LGA survey found 84 per cent of respondents expect demand for welfare assistance to increase over the winter months, while 67 per cent reported that local welfare funding, which is administered by councils, would decrease if the HSF was withdrawn.

More than three-quarters of councils said that a successor scheme should replace HSF from March 2025, according to the LGA.

In its place, local authorities are calling for longer-term funding settlements, a focus on crisis prevention and greater flexibility to decide how the funding is spent.

Cllr Pete Marland, chair of the LGA’s economy and resources board, said: “Services including grants for energy and food, supplying essential furniture and white goods, funding food banks, offering food vouchers for children during school holidays and employment and financial advice are all at risk of being lost and irreplaceable.”

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “This government will tackle the scar of poverty by making sure work pays and improving support to help people into good work.

“More details on the Household Support Fund will be set out in due course.”

Pictured top: Brixton & Norwood Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust (Picture: Eleanor Bentall)