The petition of residents of the constituency of Manchester Gorton,
Declares that the Household Support Fund has played a vital role in supporting low income households to pay for essentials like energy bills and food following the pandemic and during the cost of living crisis; notes that since October 2021, the Government has provided over £2 billion to local authorities in England; further declares that over 10 million awards were made using this funding between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023, playing an important role it played in alleviating poverty; and further declares that the government has failed to commit to funding the Household Support Fund beyond March 2024 which risks plunging millions of people across England into poverty.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to provide adequate support for low-income households for essentials through the Household Support Fund, and ensuring this provision is extended beyond March 2024.
And the petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Afzal Khan, Official Report, 30 January 2024; Vol. 744, c. 831.]
[P002900]
Observations from the Minister for Employment (Jo Churchill):
The household support fund is a scheme run by upper-tier local authorities in England to provide discretionary support towards the cost of essentials to those most in need.
Since October 2022, the consumer prices index has already more than halved from 11.1% to 4.0%. This is stabilising the financial situation for many families, and the Office for Budget Responsibility expects that by quarter 4 of 2024 (October to December) CPI will have fallen to 1.4%.
In the meantime, some people will need further targeted help to get back to a stable financial position.
That is why the Government are providing an additional £500 million to enable the extension of the household support fund, including funding for the devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that local authorities in England will receive an additional £421 million to support those in need locally through the household support fund.
The funding will be available to local authorities in England from 1 April 2024 and will run until 30 September 2024.
The guidance and individual local authority allocations for this forthcoming extension will be announced as soon as possible ahead of the scheme beginning on 1 April 2024.