Household Support Fund October 2022

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has allocated Calderdale Council (CMBC) funds to support people experiencing hardship:

The objective of the Household Support Fund is to provide support to vulnerable households in most need of support to help with significantly rising living costs. P.3 DWP draft Guidance Oct 2022

DWP has asked Local Authorities to prioritise supporting households with the cost of energy. The fund can also be used to provide support with food, essentials linked to energy and water, wider essentials, and housing costs in exceptional cases of genuine emergency:

Energy bills may be of particular concern to low income households during the period of The Fund and Local Authorities should prioritise supporting households with the cost of energy. Support which can make a quick but sustainable impact on energy costs is particularly encouraged – for example, insulation of hot water tanks, fitting draft excluders to a door, or replacing inefficient lightbulbs or white goods. The Fund can also be used to support households with the cost of food and water bills, essential costs related to energy, food and water, and with wider essential costs. In exceptional cases of genuine emergency, it can additionally be used to support housing costs where existing housing support schemes do not meet this exceptional need. P.1 DWP Draft Guidance Oct 2022

Funds must be spent by 31st March 2023 or be reclaimed by DWP. Funds cannot be held over for future usage.

Eligible Spend:

  • Energy and water. The Fund should primarily be used to support with energy bills for any form of fuel that is used for the purpose of domestic heating, cooking or lighting, including oil or portable gas cylinders. It can also be used to support with water bills including for drinking, washing, cooking, and sanitary purposes and sewerage.

  • The Fund should also primarily be used to provide support with food whether in kind or through vouchers or cash. If you are a food provider not currently participating in the Food Poverty Forum, please join so we can work together to get the best support for people experiencing food poverty across Calderdale. Contact Bill Ashcroft, VSI Alliance Bill.Ashcroft@vsialliance.org.uk  for more information. The Food Poverty Forum will be liaising with CFFC throughout the application process.

  • Essentials linked to energy and water. The Fund can be used to provide support with essentials linked to energy and water (including sanitary products, warm clothing, soap, blankets, boiler service/repair, purchase of equipment including fridges, freezers, ovens, slow cookers etc.), in recognition that a range of costs may arise which directly affect a household’s ability to afford or access energy, food and water. In particular, we encourage LAs to consider supporting households on low incomes to repair or replace white goods and appliances with more energy efficient ones, or to invest in simple energy efficiency measures which will pay back quickly, such as insulating a hot water tank, fitting draft excluders to a front door, or replacing inefficient lightbulbs or white goods. The intention of this is to provide sustainable support which could result in both immediate and long-lasting savings for the household.

  • Wider essentials. The Fund can be used to support with wider essential needs not linked to energy and water should Authorities consider this appropriate in their area. These may include, but are not limited to, support with other bills including broadband or phone bills, clothing, and essential transport-related costs such as repairing a car, buying a bicycle or paying for fuel. This list is not exhaustive.

  • Housing Costs. In exceptional cases of genuine emergency where existing housing support schemes do not meet this exceptional need, the Fund can be used to support housing costs. Please see the end of the document (p.11) for specific information on housing **

Exclusions:

This fund cannot be used for

  • advice services (including debt advice)
  • mortgage support
  • staffing costs

The funds are to provide direct support to households in need, by provision of food, energy and related essentials.

How much can you apply for?

Up to £4000 is available to groups meeting the criteria of the fund. We don’t expect all applicants to apply for the maximum award available. Please consider the following when making your application:

  1. You should feel confident you can spend the funds you apply for by 31st March 2023. Any evidence you can provide to demonstrate this will be helpful to your application e.g. last quarter’s activity statistics. Any underspend will be reclaimed by DWP.

  • You should be able to complete the monitoring returns required by DWP for these funds. This fund requires organisations to record key data for every item provided using Household Support Funds e.g. type of household, type of support provided, postcode. Successful applicants will receive templates for a) data collation and b) monitoring returns. You can see excerpts from both of these documents in the guidance.

Download Guidance of Household Support Fund.

Please read the top tips of applying on this page

Click to apply here: Household Support Fund Oct 2022

The deadline for applications is 10.00 am Monday 7th November.

For more information or support please email grants@cffc.co.uk or telephone on 01422 349700