MORNING STAR
Friday, August 23, 2024
A report by End Furniture Poverty says that some 17.8 million will be cut off from support if the Household Support Fund (HSF) is closed on September 30 as planned.
The fund was created in 2021 to support families through the cost-of-living crisis, receiving £1 billion from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) each year.
Through the HSF, councils could provide struggling households with payments of up to £290 to help with the expense of paying energy bills and buying food, furniture and essential items.
Thirty-six local authorities have already closed their local welfare scheme and a further eight say theirs will close on October 1 if they are unable to obtain additional government funding.
As councils face increased financial strain, they are ever more reliant on the fund to “prop up” local welfare assistance schemes, End Furniture Poverty found.
Drawing on data from freedom of information requests sent to local authorities, the charity found that 65 per cent of all funding for local welfare assistance in England comes from HSF and 18 of the schemes are 100 per cent funded by HSF.
Some 44 per cent of the HSF budget in 2023-24 in England was used to provide holiday food vouchers for families receiving free school meals, but 22 authorities said they would not continue without the support.
End Furniture Poverty head of policy Claire Donovan said: “We know the Household Support Fund is a sticking plaster, but we desperately need one last extension of funding while an urgent review of local authority crisis support is carried out.
“The government has much to do and we understand that funding is tight, but investing in local authority crisis support is vital to save families from going under — and it is investment that saves the public purse across the NHS, social care and much more.”
Once the HSF ends, no crisis support will be available in 44 local authority areas, effectively impacting one in three local councils.
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