Will Government extend the Household Support Fund?

Amidst dire warnings about the state of the nation's finances and need to cut spending, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is still considering extending the Household Support Fund, according to reports in the Financial Times (£), also covered in the Guardian.

Launched in October 2021, the Household Support Fund (HSF) is distributed to local authorities (and devolved nations using the Barnett Formula) to enable them to provide grants to families in need of additional support with bills including food and energy. Many councils have used funds to provide additional cash or voucher payments during school holidays to families with children eligible for free school meals. 

Sustain has been amongst over 100 organisations calling on the Government not to allow the scheme to end, as it enables councils to provide critical financial and nutritional safety nets to families facing food and income insecurity.

The Fund has been extended five times since 2021, most recently providing £421 million to cover the period from March to September 2024. 

Responding to the reports, Children's Food Campaign Manager Barbara Crowther says:

"The Household Support Fund has been critical in the last three years in offering a vital safety net for children, families and elderly citizens facing hardship. It's enabled councils to provide additional cash or voucher support to purchase food, pay energy bills and meet emergency needs. It's been a hugely important contributor to councils' ability to provide additional support for children's food during school holidays.

We're already at the eleventh hour, with funds running out in a month's time, and no sign that levels of food insecurity are going away. That's why we and hundreds of organisations have been urgently pressing the government to extend this lifeline and funding again - not just for a few more months, but to give some stability to councils to plan and budget locally. We do hope the Chancellor will move quickly to confirm her plan for the year ahead, and also seek a longer term funding solution in partnership with local councils."

According to the Food Foundation's latest tracking data published in July 2024 showed:

• An estimated 7.2 million adults and 2.7 million children experienced food insecurity in June 2024
   
• 23% of families with three children experienced food insecurity as a result of the two-child benefit limit, rising to 26% of families with four or more children

Earlier in 2024, Sustain joined with over 120 organisations in calling on government to give more advance notice of continuing funding, to allow councils to plan and budget in advance. It was following this that the Government extended the scheme for the fifth time. The coalition has also called for a permanent funding mechanism that would enable local authorities to continue to support our most vulnerable residents and allow a flexible allocation, including making provision for the use of cash grants, funding for advice services and collaboration with food partnerships, food poverty alliances and the VCSOs. 

Read our briefing on the Household Support Fund