Summary
- The Household Support Fund (HSF) is currently due to end in March 2024 with no funding yet allocated for it to continue into 2024/25 and beyond. London Councils is calling on the government to continue to fund the HSF in 2024/25 at existing levels and to provide councils with urgent confirmation about its future, needed to avoid job losses and interruptions in essential service provision. If funding cannot be provided at the same level, at a minimum, there should be a multi-year transitional phase to help local authorities plan and meet the needs of their residents.
- The HSF is worth £135.6 million across London and boroughs have used it in a variety of ways, including essential support funds for residents struggling to pay their bills, investment in local advice services and food hubs.
- A survey by London Councils found that London boroughs have used the HSF to provide school holiday food support to over 472,000 children in 2023/24 worth a total of £63 million.
- The same London Councils survey found that London boroughs have also used the HSF to provide a further £18.7 million in emergency food support to 218,000 households, through funding to foodbanks and community food hubs alongside the provision of supermarket vouchers.
- If the HSF is not renewed, all of this support is at threat of being removed. Due to the severe financial pressures faced by London boroughs there is no alternative funding stream for these services.
Context
"…having a safe space for my children, getting to choose what my children get to eat, is a feeling that I can’t fully express. And it's not just about food, things like shampoo, toothpaste, washing powder, basics that I often have gone without, or worried about when they are going to run out. I am now in a position where I can think about a future for me and my family, something that I did not think would be possible." – Westminster Resident who has benefitted from the Household Support Fund
The HSF has proven a vital means for local authorities across the country to help their lowest income residents with the increased cost of living. London boroughs are spending £135.7 million this year to help households struggling to afford their energy bills, to fund emergency food support services, and to provide support during the holidays to households who receive free school meals, alongside other innovative approaches and partnership working with local voluntary and community organisations.
The pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis has worn down Londoners’ overall financial resilience, making the support provided by the HSF essential for many in avoiding destitution. However the cost-of-living crisis is far from over and we know it will continue to impact low-income Londoners over the coming year.
Gas and electricity prices respectively remain 60% and 40% higher than pre-crisis levels and the cost of essential items, including food, continue to be high as previous price rises have become ‘baked in’. To put this into context, London households in the lowest income quintile today need to spend £75 to buy the same food and non-alcoholic beverage items that they bought for £57 in the three years leading up to March 2020. They also have to pay £39 to use the same amount of energy as they did leading up to Q1 2020, when it used to cost them £23.
The Resolution Foundation forecasts that even as wage growth returns, the removal of cost-of-living support, will see incomes falling for low-income households in 2024/25, worse than either of the past two years. In this context the HSF is even more important than before.
Case Study - Redbridge
Ms X experienced years of physical, emotional and financial abuse from her husband. He controlled her Universal Credit payments and set up credit cards and betting accounts in her name, resulting in significant debts of over £60,000. After building a good relationship with her Support Worker, Ms X made the decision to flee the relationship with her three children. As a result of significant advocacy work, rent arrears were cleared and Mother was able to retain her council tenancy and move to a new, safe property. The HSF proved essential in supporting the family with essentials including food and bedding. Without the significant support that has been put in place and access to food and essential items, Ms X said she would have returned to the relationship. She shared:
“Support has been an all-rounder from dealing with my accommodation issues, debt solutions, financial support, and our welfare in general. We are on our way to settling down and the adjustments have been a challenge but manageable with the support of the involved professionals”
How London boroughs have used the Household Support Fund
London boroughs play a vital role in supporting residents who are struggling with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the HSF has played a key part of this support. The largest element of this has been school holiday food support, whereby vouchers or cash support have been issued to families with children entitled to free school meals during the holidays. Through this, London boroughs have provided school holiday food support to over 472,000 children in 2023/24, worth a total of £63 million.
This holiday food provision has become an essential lifeline for parents, providing them with a security net of healthy, balanced meals for their children and relieving the financial pressures they face during school holidays
Many London boroughs have also used the HSF to support children from low-income families which don’t meet the threshold for free school meals, as well as distributing funding directly to schools which allocate this funding quickly and effectively through breakfast programmes, snacks, packed-lunch top-ups and take home food parcels for families.
The HSF is also used to provide grants, vouchers and cash payments to help residents pay for essential items like food, gas, electricity, replacing essential household appliances or buying school uniforms. While these payments may be small, ranging from £50 - £200, the evidence consistently shows that they have a profound impact on recipients.
Other examples of support funded through the HSF include:
- Debt, employment and housing advice: many boroughs combine HSF payments with advice, aligning short-term-help with an offer that goes beyond crisis support, to help residents improve their long-term financial stability through income maximisation, debt and benefits advice. The HSF has been used to fund this provision via outreach sessions into the local community, touring advice buses and integrated council advice hubs.
- Welcoming spaces/Community living rooms: some London boroughs have used the HSF to fund warm and welcoming hubs where residents can find advice, support and companionship, creative activities and food provision in social settings. Boroughs also use these spaces to identify and respond to additional resident needs.
- Energy efficiency: alongside emergency support with energy bills, boroughs have also used the HSF to fund energy efficiency measures such as lightbulbs fitting equipment to improve insulation and water pressure which reduce energy bills.
- Supporting voluntary and community sector organisations: the HSF is used to fund a range of voluntary organisations including food banks/hubs, local advice agencies such as Citizens Advice, and small community organisations to provide food, fuel and advice.
Case Study - Bexley
A Bexley resident was finding that bills were becoming harder to pay. She cares for her mum and the care she needed meant that she had to reduce her working hours. This drop in income meant they were limiting their use of heating. The council granted them £200 through the HSF to enable them to top up their electricity. Through this grant she also accessed the council welfare benefits service and was referred for a care needs assessment to help with sustainable support.
Potential impact of withdrawing the Household Support Fund
London boroughs will continue to face enormous and unsustainable budget pressures in 2024/25, despite government plans to increase funding. The government’s announcement of a 6.4% funding boost for London local authorities will bring some relief, it will not be enough to address all of the skyrocketing costs and financial distress that boroughs are experiencing. London Councils still anticipates a funding shortfall of over £400 million in 2024/25 – with worrying consequences for local services across the capital.
Given this severe financial pressure it is highly unlikely that boroughs would be able to secure an alternative funding source for the services and support provided through the HSF, meaning these vital lifelines for low-income Londoners may have to be cut. Withdrawing the HSF at such short notice will result in the sudden termination of vital support that vulnerable residents have come to rely on.
Delaying the decision and failing to give local authorities sufficient notice has made it impossible to plan, and damaged workforce and activity planning. As a result some boroughs have already been forced to place staff funded through HSF (e.g. advice workers) on protective redundancy because of the funding uncertainty.
Organisations funded through the HSF have reported that the availability of crisis support has encouraged some residents to come forward for longer-term support. The removal of this support will make it harder to build trust and confidence with residents who are often reluctant to access services.
The following groups are particularly likely to be impacted if the HSF is not renewed:
- Children, especially those in larger families and those with primary aged children more likely to experience poverty and who will lose holiday vouchers.
- Residents in social rented accommodation, who will not benefit from the uplift in Local Housing Allowance uplift from April 2024.
- Disabled residents who face high levels of poverty will lose access to income maximisation, advice and direct cash support.
- Food and advice providers, community infrastructure organisations and voluntary and community sector organisations will lose statutory funding for food, fuel and cash support.
This is why London Councils is calling on the government to continue to fund the HSF in 2024/25 at existing levels and to provide councils with urgent confirmation about its future, needed to avoid job losses and interruptions in essential service provision.
