Local authorities in England are set to receive £842m in additional funding from the government through an extension of the Household Support Fund targeting vulnerable people.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced the additional funding on 21 February. It will be allocated to councils from 1 April to help support people in their local area pay for energy bills or groceries.
The DWP said the distribution of the funding is targeted at the areas of the country with the “most vulnerable households” and local authorities will have the flexibility to decide how best to spend their allocation.
The Household Support Fund was first introduced in September 2021 and was due to run until 31 March 2022, before being extended. The fund is expected to be worth more than £2bn over its lifetime.
Mims Davies, DWP minister for social mobility, youth and progression, said: “The Household Support Fund has already helped vulnerable families across England through these challenging times and I am pleased it will continue to do so for another full year.”
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Pete Marland, chair of the Local Government Association’s resources board, said that the extension of the fund for another year is “positive to see”. He added: “Councils know their populations best, using their local knowledge and expertise to target support in the most effective way and look forward to receiving the revised guidance for the fund as soon as possible.”
However, he called for the government to make the fund permanent and to give councils “greater flexibility to ensure it helps people in the greatest need and crucially shift focus from short-term crisis support to investing in prevention”.
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