Local support for families in crisis has failed to keep up with an explosion in “bed poverty” in England caused by rising destitution and the cost of living, according to the children’s charity Barnardo’s.
It said applications to council-run schemes for replacement children’s beds or bedding had quadrupled over the past five years – though a greater proportion are rejected, suggesting that the schemes struggle to meet demand.
The charity has estimated that more than 1 million children in the UK either sleep on the floor or share a bed with parents or siblings because their family cannot afford to replace broken frames and wash mouldy linen.
Barnardo’s has urged ministers not to scrap hundreds of millions of pounds in crisis support funding at the end of March, which it said provided a vital lifeline for families in dire poverty who cannot afford every day basics such as beds, furniture and cookers, as well as food and energy.
The household support fund (HSF) was introduced by the government in 2021 to help families struggling with the cost of living. Since then it has given nearly £2bn in total, distributed via local authorities, and is used to fund food and energy vouchers, replacement furniture and white goods, and grant support for food banks.
English councils spent more than a third of the £850m allocated to them last year as part of the fund on food vouchers for families eligible for free school meals during the school holidays, suggesting that the removal of the HSF could also trigger a fresh holiday hunger crisis.
There is cross-party support for extending the HSF for at least a year, with Thérèse Coffey, the Conservative former welfare secretary, and Will Quince, an ex-welfare minister, among those backing a call to retain the scheme by Labour’s Stephen Timms during a parliamentary debate last week.
Ministers have said the decision to end the scheme is still under review, although Barnardo’s has said that it would create a major deficit in crisis help that neither charities nor local authorities – many of themselves in financial crisis – would be able to fill.
More than four in five councils have reported that hardship levels have increased in their area in the past year, and nearly three-quarters expect it to continue to rise over the next 12 months, according to a Local Government Association survey. Pete Marland, the chair of the association’s economy and resources board, said: “Without an urgent extension of the HSF for at least a year, there is a risk of more households falling into financial crisis, homelessness and poverty.”
The government’s cost of living payments scheme is also due to end soon, with the final payment of £299 this month. Campaigners are worried that support for low-income families will fall off a “cliff edge” in a few weeks at a time when food and energy and other basic living costs are still punishingly high.
Research by the charity End Furniture Poverty in November found that nearly two-thirds of local authority welfare assistance spending was financed by the HSF in 2022-23, suggesting its removal would have a disastrous impact on the availability and depth of local welfare assistance schemes, which as a result of cuts have largely declined in recent years.
A freedom of information request to English councils by Barnardo’s found requests for crisis help with children’s beds had risen from 4,000 to 18,000 between 2018 and 2023. Over the same period, the proportion of successful applications fell from 53% to 41%.
Barnardo’s chief executive, Lynn Perry, said: ”Even with the HSF in place, councils are struggling to keep up with demand. That fund is due to end in two months’ time – if it does, it will leave a huge hole in the ability of councils to provide help – including providing beds or bedding for children who deserve a decent night’s sleep.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “We have invested over £2bn in the household support fund over the last two years – with almost £800m already paid to families with children to help with the cost of living.
“The current fund is available up until March 2024 as part of wider cost of living support worth on average £3,700 per household, including raising benefits by 6.7% from April and increasing the local housing allowance.”
