Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide future funding to local authorities to allow them to dispense discretionary crisis support.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In England, the Government is providing £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. The HSF is a scheme providing discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water.
We recognise that certainty helps Local Authorities to design and deliver sustainable plans for local welfare assistance. Committing to funding the Household Support Fund until 31 March 2026 will allow them to plan their approach with greater confidence.
No decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other Government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to review the Household Support Fund guidance to ensure the fund prevents people from facing serious financial hardship.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions conducted an evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund, that ran from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This has been published and can be found here: Evaluation of the Household Support Fund 4 - GOV.UK.
The evaluation followed a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to assess the effectiveness of the HSF4 delivery by Local Authorities and its benefits for recipients, to inform the design of potential future funding schemes. When setting the Household Support Fund guidance, the Department considers evaluation activities alongside feedback from stakeholder engagement sessions.
The Household Support Fund scheme guidance and individual Local Authority funding allocations for the forthcoming extension will be announced as soon as possible ahead of the scheme beginning on 1 April 2025.