Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it his policy to allow local authorities to make decisions on the allocation of Household Support Fund monies to households based on local population needs; and if she will make a statement.

Local Authorities in England have received their allocations from the £421m Household Support Fund extension for April – September 2022, alongside the grant determination and guidance. The allocations for Local Authorities for this period can be found here. Local Authorities have discretion on exactly how and when this funding is used within the scope set out in the guidance, based on their assessment of local need.

From October 2022, Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England £421m will be used to further extend the Household Support Fund (October 2022 – March 2023). Guidance and individual local authority allocations for this further extension to the Household Support Fund will be announced in due course.