Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to deliver a long-term (a) funding settlement and (b) strategy for local crisis support when the Household Support Fund ends in March 2025.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.
As set out by the Chancellor in July, the Government has inherited a number of significant pressures within public spending and took immediate action to reduce spending in-year and set out a clear process to a Budget this autumn and a full Spending Review to follow. The Government will set out its overall fiscal and spending plans then.