energy and water bills, essentials linked to energy and water bills, wider essentials, and (in exceptional circumstances) housing costs. It is the responsibility of Authorities to provide the MI returns to DWP. The HSF is funded by the Department for Work & Pensions. In accordance with their general legal duties, Authorities must have a clear rationale or documented policy/framework outlining their approach, including how they are defining eligibility and how households access The Fund. 31 March 2022. This includes the Cost of Living Payments set out on 26 May 2022 and the energy support set out on 3 February (enhanced on 26 May 2022), and detailed on 29 July 2022 (details on eligibility for these schemes are at Annex A). If your application is successful, payment will take 7-10 working days. As with any welfare payment to vulnerable recipients there is a risk of fraud, as recipients might appear to be eligible when they are not. 44. We are providing Authorities with details of UC claimants in their Authority whose income is below the FSM and free prescription thresholds and those with Limited Capability For Work both at individual level and summary level by Ward. . 125. To 745 Manchester residents in real need of Support and advice for Council tenants, private tenants landlords. Authorities may wish to consider restricting access to these vouchers; and also consider restricting usage to ensure that they cannot be spent outside the intended scope of The Fund. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate this additional funding. 47. Your council may have chosen a different name than Household Support Fund. They will look to identify good practice and identify case studies where appropriate. 127. Authorities may find this information useful in identifying those most in need. In particular, LAs should prioritise those who have not already received additional support for the cost of living. This funding covered the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 inclusive. The timetable for provision of funding is as follows: 108. Use whatever information is already available or reasonable to collect to be as accurate as possible. 116. Include, where possible, the amount of spend across the following categories: 86. You can apply for help from the Household Support Fund by contacting one of the following organisations. If you have any questions or require any help completing the form please email HSF@stockton.gov.uk or telephone 01642 526070. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced a new grant, the Household Support Fund (HSF) to cover the period 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. household support fund application form wolverhampton . Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. If your Authority needs to discuss access to Glasscubes, contact DWP. If you're unable to fill in the form online and email it, our Community Hub team can help you complete the . Authorities should make every effort to gather information to establish the household type. This portal provides information on individual citizens entitlement to (and confirms receipt of) DWP welfare benefits. 89. Email hsf.south@citizensadviceosav.org.uk. In relation to housing costs this must include checking whether the household could receive DHPs. 41. The Household Support Fund is being classified as Local Welfare Provision (LWP). 1. Authorities will need to ensure they sign future iterations of the MoU and the appropriate Annex to continue to have the legal permission to access the data sources for LWP. The objective of The Fund is to provide support to vulnerable households in most need of support to help with significantly rising living costs. 74. On 30 September 2021, the government announced that vulnerable households across the country would be able to access a new 500 million support fund to help them with essentials over the winter such as energy, food and water bills, and other related essentials. It is for Authorities to decide how payments are made to recipients. 28. By proactive support we mean any awards made as a result of the Authority proactively identifying recipients. 112. The Household Support Fund is money from the government that we use to help low-income households with food and fuel poverty. Details around the third phase of the fund will be . It includes amounts paid by Authorities and by TPOs on behalf of Authorities. It would be reasonable to expect the vulnerable household to redeem the food voucher during the month following the end of The Fund. When allocating spend and the volume of awards across the eligibility criteria please follow the guidance below. Cost of Living Scheme "Top Up". The Authority must, as appropriate and practical, reference that the grant is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions or the UK Government in any publicity material, including online channels and media releases. Within 'Household Support Fund (April to September) final guidance' HTML document: To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk. 11. 124. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, If you need support, contact your local council to find out more information and apply for the fund, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund guidance for county councils and unitary authorities in England, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund Grant Determination 2023 No 31/6496, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund management information reporting requirements, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024: Household Support Fund management information template, 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023: Household Support Fund guidance for county councils and unitary authorities in England, 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023: Household Support Fund Grant Determination 2022 No 31/3096, 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023: Household Support Fund management information template, get help with the cost of living through the Household Support Fund from your local council, Cold Weather Payment estimates: 2022 to 2023, Energy Bills Support Scheme GB: payments made by electricity suppliers to customers, Cold Weather Payment estimates: 2021 to 2022, Applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment. 30 September 2021, the government announced, Mr Sunak announced in the Spring Statement on 23 March an extension to the Household Support Fund extending it to 30 September 2022, My mother has Alzheimer's - these are 10 foods we both eat to protect brain health, Ed Davey: 'We are locked out of my learning disabled son's savings - the Government won't help', 9 retro UK seaside resort towns having a 21st-century renaissance, from Margate to Morecambe, The Spanish town with a unique 'Asnot' festival that mocks Ascot and British culture, I only ever eat British fruit and veg, even in the depths of winter. The Household Support Fund (HSF) was introduced by the government to help vulnerable households with the soaring cost of living. Note: County Councils and Unitary Authorities will be referred to as Authorities and the Household Support Fund will be referred to as The Fund throughout the remainder of this guidance. When deciding how to help people, Authorities should consider: 18. As more households have been affected . A food bank operates on an open basis where anyone can turn up and pick up food and supplies. Household Support Fund. Where possible, any payments made into a bank account should be in the same name of the person that is eligible for that payment. Authorities should have regard to the fact that receipt of any of the above support should not exclude a resident from receiving support through The Fund in principle and households in receipt of support from these schemes may still be in need. Therefore, a disabled person is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities: substantial is more than minor or trivial, for example it takes much longer than it normally would to complete a daily task like getting dressed; long-term means 12 months or more, for example a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection. 7. On 17 November 2022, as part of the Chancellors Autumn Statement, the government announced an additional 1 billion of funding to help households with the cost of essentials. household support fund application form wolverhamptonpictures of sun damaged lips January 19, 2023 / in we're having trouble connecting to the server excel onedrive / by 97. Failure to return the MI by the deadline may result in a delayed payment or a payment being refused. LAs must make public their plans for The Fund, for example on their Authority website. The Fund is ring-fenced to be spent as detailed in this guidance and the accompanying grant determination. reason for the return (for example, expired voucher), what the original spend was reported against in their. Visit your nearest One Stop Shop as soon as you can to speak with one of our advisers. Authorities could make the entirety of their scheme application based. The Household Support Fund is 6.67m the Government has given Norfolk to support residents who are struggling to pay their energy and utility bills. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. 421m has been made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to support those most in need to help with global inflationary challenges and the significantly rising cost of living. It is important to stress that The Fund is intended to cover a wide range of low income households in need including families with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people. The Authority directly provides vouchers to vulnerable households as a result of the Authority proactively identifying the recipients. Authorities wishing to work with TPOs to deliver The Fund must carry out suitable due diligence checks to ensure they are viable and able to deliver the support. This cell will automatically populate from the total in table 3. Essential household items (white goods, small appliances), Other essentials (warm clothing and bedding), Addition for each child in household: 15.00. The funds should not be used for any economic undertaking. Any underspends from the previous schemes cannot be carried forward. Funded by the UK government, the scheme is for those most in need of support to help with significantly rising living costs. News stories, speeches, letters and notices, Reports, analysis and official statistics, Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports. They may also have additional heating, water or transport costs. Authorities have discretion to assess what is reasonable to assist those in genuine need this winter with regard to the examples above. 114. All rights reserved. We may need the Authority to explain why spend was so low. The provision of DWP data to Authorities is under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department for Work and Pensions and LAs (Access, handling, exchange and protection of DWPs and HM Revenue and Customs data). 73. It is expected that the focus of support should be on bills and that support for housing costs should only be given in exceptional cases of genuine emergency. household furnishings. Therefore, if an Authority identified a group of potential claimants who may be eligible for The Fund from their own records, they can access Searchlight to verify each claimants DWP benefit entitlement (although benefit entitlement is not a condition of support). Paul Maynard Conservative, Blackpool North and Cleveleys 4:00 pm, 1st March 2022. has considered the household support fund. Table 4: Total Value of Awards Split by Category. Paragraph 65 has been added to clarify reporting requirements when Household Support Fund payments are made instead of a different payment method. By Tangible Items we mean products that are of a physical nature such as clothing or household items. 34. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. However, when an LA chooses to use all or part of this funding for an application-based process, they must make sure that this support is clearly advertised to residents. Although they still carry fraud risks, vouchers should be used instead of cash where possible as this helps to mitigate the risk of the money being spent by the recipient on things outside of the policy intent. 79. The funding comes from the Department for Work and Pensions Household Support Grant. 4. Apply for the household support fund. The fund is available to support both adults (without dependent children) and families with children and will be made available to vulnerable households who need additional financial support during the winter months . The Household Support Fund (HSF) was introduced by the government to help vulnerable households with the soaring cost of living. This cell will automatically populate from the figures in rows a and b. 77. Fraudsters can target funds of this type. Authorities are required to complete a delivery plan to outline their intentions for The Fund and to demonstrate some of the ways in which they intend to allocate their funding. Authorities may find this information useful in identifying those most in need. Beyond this, Authorities have discretion to determine the most appropriate Fund for their area, based on their understanding of local need and with due regard to equality considerations. Household Support Fund doubled to 1 billion with 500 million of new funding, as government goes further to support families with cost of living. This includes reasonable costs incurred administering The Fund. These organisations have access to the Household Support Fund and can provide support. All Authorities are encouraged to ensure, wherever possible, that any vouchers issued are redeemed before the end of The Fund, or shortly thereafter, or consider recycling unused vouchers. It adds that the remainder of the funding up to one third can be available for other vulnerable households. The guidance for completion is provided on a separate tab within the MI template. There may be groups who are vulnerable to rising prices even though they are supported through these schemes, for example large families or single-income families. T 15. Facilities grants can range from minor works such as installing ramps to major works such as extensions (up to a maximum of 30,000). The government announced an extension of the scheme in summer 2022 supporting vulnerable households, including pensioners and those with children. Essentials linked to energy and water. 5. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward, and a pleasure to speak about what is one of the Government's better-kept secrets: the household support fund. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Table 5 relates to grant spend, volume of awards made, and households helped in relation to Vouchers, Cash Awards, Third Party Organisations, Tangible Items and Other. Initially set to cover the period 6 October 2021 - 31 March 2022 . Eligible applications include: Energy and water. the Authority is reporting a high value of administration costs. 14. The definition of a household with a pensioner is any household containing any person: The definition of disability and disabled people aligns with the definition in the Equality Act 2010. Please indicate that you have done this in row 4 of the table Is the section 151 Officer/CFO copied into the return to DWP? If the MI is incomplete or incorrect it will be returned to the Authority by the DWP for correction and re-submission which must also be copied to your Chief Financial Officer/Section 151 Officer. By | January 19, 2023 | 0 | January 19, 2023 | 0 Table 6: Total Value of Awards Split by Access Routes. However, in relation to housing costs, Authorities must establish whether other forms of support are available to the household, such as Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). So, for example, ensuring all charities are registered and taking extra caution if they are new organisations. 3. This is because you know that the purpose of the grant is for children and the nature of support is clothing which comes under wider essentials. Authorities have access to a range of data sources, and checks can be carried out against this data to verify the identity of the recipient. 9. The grants will be issued on a first come, first served basis. 2. Administration costs this includes reasonable costs incurred administering The Fund. Authorities have the flexibility within The Fund to identify which vulnerable households are in most need of support and apply their own discretion when identifying eligibility. 60. the intention to spend the total unspent amount against the same category of spend for the same group. The Household Support Fund provides support to vulnerable Medway households. 49. If the Section 151 Officer is also the SPOC (single point of contact) for the scheme, please input details in both response fields. 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