Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Household Support Fund.

The Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion.

In England, £421 million is being provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund from 01 October to 31 March. Guidance and individual local authority indicative allocations for this further extension to the Household Support Fund will be published soon. The devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.