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Labour is set to extend a hardship fund for struggling households in England after campaigners call the money a “lifeline” for thousands.
Ministers will announce that the Household Support Fund will be extended for a fifth time, Whitehall officials told the Financial Times, taking the funding beyond its current September 30 cut off date.
The Household Support Fund provides local councils with a share of £500 million over a period of six months. Each authority is free to allocate funds however they feel is best to help struggling households in their area.
Some provide cash grants, while others opt for supermarket vouchers, energy bill assistance, or funding for food banks. However, a recent report from the End Furniture Poverty charity showed that 44 percent of the total Household Support Fund budget in 2023/24 was used to provide holiday food vouchers for families in receipt of free school meals.
The report said that the Household Support Fund is a “lifeline” for many families, as a separate survey from the Local Government Association showed that 94 percent of councils believed the fund should be continued.
Nearly two-thirds also said they would not be able to provide Local Welfare Assistance – money made available to those in severe finanical hardship – if it was withheld by the Labour government. However, the majority also said they would prefer to receive secure, long-term funding to tackle issues facing local government.
First introduced by the Conservative governemnt in 2021, the Household Support Fund was implemented to support vulnerable households through the cost of living crisis and Covid pandemic. But with costs and bill remaining high long past the peak of the pandemic, this ‘temporary’ measure has been extended multiple times.
Concerns were raised that Ms Reeves would decide not to renew the Conservative-introduced fund following her admission that “tough decisions” would need to be made to plug the government’s £22bn “black hole” in public spending which Labour was concealed by the previous Conservative government.
Ahead of her first Budget, the chancellor has drawn criticism for announcing several cuts designed to redress this funding issue, including the scaling back of the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners and refusing to lift the Tory-era two-child benefit cap.
Managing expectations further at his first No 10 keystone speech, Keir Starmer admitted the budget would be “painful.” The prime minister added that “things will get worse” as funding issues force Labour to make more “unpopular decisions.”
For now, it would appear the Household Support Fund is not set to be among the cuts. To find out what support is available to vulnerable households through the fund in any area, the End Furniture Poverty charity offers a local assistance finder tool.
