PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Household Support Fund (3 September 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much and what proportion of each round of the Household Support Fund has been spent on (a) energy support, (b) pensioner households and (c) energy support for pensioner households.

Asked by:
Mel Stride (Conservative)

There have been five separate iterations of the Household Support Fund (HSF). Since the first iteration was introduced, over £2.5 billion has been allocated to Local Authorities in England to support those most in need through the HSF (October 2021- September 2024).

The Government has announced funding to extend the HSF for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.

DWP requires that Local Authorities provide Management Information (MI) returns to the Department, which demonstrate that they are delivering the scheme in accordance with the guidance and grant determination that the Department have set out for the scheme. This includes information on the type of household supported, category of spending, types of support and how support has been accessed.

MI has been published for the first three iterations of HSF following their completion. For HSF2 and HSF3, the information shows the proportion of each round spent on energy and water, essentials linked to energy and water and households with pensioners. This information is not available for HSF1. It is not possible to determine the proportion spent on energy support for households with pensioners or the total amount spent in any category for any round of the fund due to data limitations.

The information can be found at the following links:

For HSF1: Household Support Fund management information for 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For HSF2: Household Support Fund 2 management information for 1 April to 30 September 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For HSF3: Household Support Fund 3management information for 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 - GOV.UK(www.gov.uk)

MI for HSF4 is due to be released later this year. MI for HSF5 and HSF6 will be published once the schemes conclude and subject to the usual quality assurance process.

Answered by:
Alison McGovern (Labour)
9 September 2024