Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Household Support Fund in supporting pensioners in winter 2024-25.

The Department for Work and Pensions publishes Management Information on the Household Support Fund, including details on the proportion of funding spent on households with pensioners.

The latest Management Information covering the scheme running from April 2023-March 2024 is available here: Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK. Data that includes winter 2024-25 is still being collected and will be published later in 2025.

Local Authorities 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.

The Department for Work and Pensions conducted an evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund, that ran from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published shortly.