DWP extends payment scheme to help with food and energy bills amid cost of living crisis

The Household Support Fund was extended for a fifth time this week, with local authorities able to make one-off payments to households in need under the scheme

UK households are invited to claim FREE payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as part of a fresh initiative starting this week. The DWP's Household Support Fund, which began on Tuesday, October 1, offers people a chance to claim their portion of the £421million pot set aside to support vulnerable families.

The fund is allocated for essential costs like food, energy bills, and other necessities, operating until March 31, 2025. The DWP has stated: "Funds should be spent or committed before March 31, 2025, and cannot be carried over for future use. Authorities must ensure that vouchers distributed are redeemed before the end of the scheme, or shortly thereafter."

Charities have issued warnings that without this fund, local crisis aid, currently available in almost a third of English local authorities affecting 18 million individuals—including those in cities like Birmingham, Bradford, Nottingham, along with Westminster, Croydon, Hampshire, Slough, and Stoke-on-Trent—would vanish. In an extraordinary move, some councils are extending cash offers to individuals who aren't even recipients of benefits.

A government spokesperson, addressing the matter, mentioned that further information would be forthcoming, saying: "We are absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and tackling the scar of poverty, despite the dire state of the public finances we have inherited."

The scheme, which was first introduced in autumn 2021, is set for its fifth extension, allowing councils to distribute small grants for essentials to those in need. This extension comes with a staggering £421 million price tag amid the Cost of Living crisis, reports Birmingham Live.

The fund has been extended four times by the previous government at a cost of around £2bn and is a major provider of food vouchers to help parents struggling to feed their children during school holidays. It provides support to tens of thousands of households at risk of destitution with cash, food parcels, fuel vouchers and clothing.

The potential removal of the HSF – which effectively funds two-thirds of council-run local welfare provision schemes – had threatened to severely impact the already strained crisis safety net in England.