Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to improve the capacity of local authorities to administer the Household Support Fund.

Since October 2021, over £2.9 billion has been allocated to Local Authorities (LAs) in England to support those most in need through the Household Support Fund (HSF).

LAs have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities.

We understand that improving how local government is funded is crucial to enabling councils to deliver support to their residents and ensuring we can deliver our missions. We will provide councils with more stability and certainty through multi-year funding settlements and by ending wasteful competitive bidding. This will ensure councils can plan their finances for the future properly, delivering better value for money for taxpayers.