Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department will make additional funds available to local authorities which use up their Housing Support Fund allocation.

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why, in addition to the over £37 billion of support we have already provided for cost of living pressures in 2022-23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.

The current Household Support Fund, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, is providing £421m of funding for those most in need. For York, the funding is currently £1,037, 906.47. The devolved administrations have been allocated £79 million through the Barnett formula.

To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government has announced £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable.

For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this particular support to £2.5 billion.

In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.