Prevent poverty risk by extending vital Household Support Fund, councils warn
Councils have urged the government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) beyond April to help protect vulnerable households amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The HSF, which has provided £820 million in government funding for local welfare support over the past year, is set to end on 31st March. The fund has been used to help millions of households facing hardship who would otherwise have struggled to buy food, heat their home or go without other essentials.
More than eight out of ten of the councils that responded to a Local Government Association (LGA) survey said that financial hardship has increased in their areas just as vital local funding used to support vulnerable households is due to end.
Nearly three quarters of responding councils (73%) also said they expect hardship to increase even further over the next 12 months, while just under a fifth expect it to stay the same.
The government has not confirmed if the HSF will be extended, leaving councils, their delivery partners and residents in limbo.
The LGA said this uncertainty was impacting councils’ ability to set their budgets for next year. Any last-minute extension of the fund could come too late for councils, who would have lost experienced staff in anticipation of it ending.
Given record demand for this support, the LGA and councils across the country are calling for the fund to urgently be extended for at least a year, to prevent a cliff-edge in support for vulnerable people which cannot be filled from already overstretched council budgets.
Ending the HSF on 31st March would also coincide with an end to the government’s cost-of-living payments, which means low-income households would be doubly hit by a reduction in support.
The LGA’s survey of its members found that:
- 84% of responding councils said that financial hardship had increased in their area in the last 12 months
- Almost two thirds of respondents said they could provide no additional discretionary funding to replace what is lost from the end of the HSF, whilst just under a fifth said that alongside the fund ending, they would also be reducing their own local welfare discretionary funding due to financial pressures
- Around a fifth of responding councils said they would have to make redundancies if the HSF were to end
The HSF was first introduced in October 2021 and allowed councils to expand the help they could give to vulnerable residents during the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. It has been subsequently extended several times.
Since 2021, the HSF has boosted investment in local welfare support by more than £2bn and now funds 62% of local welfare provision, allowing councils to target support to the needs of their communities.
Pete Marland, chair of the LGA’s economy and resources board, said: ‘The Household Support Fund has provided an essential lifeline for our most vulnerable residents, but our survey shows this help is needed now more than ever.
‘Now is not the time to scale back support. Many at-risk households continue to face considerable challenges in meeting essential living costs, with demand for support greater than when the fund was first introduced.
‘Ultimately, councils want to shift from providing crisis support to investing in preventative services which improve people’s financial resilience and life chances, alongside a sufficiently-resourced national safety net.
‘However, without an urgent extension of Household Support Fund for at least a year, there is a risk of more households falling into financial crisis, homelessness and poverty.’
Image: Gio Almonte
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