FAMILIES will get extra help from councils after the Chancellor DOUBLED the Household Support Fund by £500million to £1billion.
The measure was announced in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring statement today.
2
2
It means that the total amount of money the government has piled into the fund stands at £1billion.
The Household Support Fund was launched in October to help Brits pay their way through winter amid a cost of living crisis.
You can get free cash and vouchers to help pay for things like heating your home or to cover costs of your weekly grocery shop under the scheme.
When it was initially launched, the government announced a total of £500million would be dished out across all councils – but the cash had to be divvied out by March 31, 2022.
But Rishi Sunak announced the scheme had been extended today, with councils in line to get a slice of the £500million extra funding available from April.
Mr Sunak said: “I want to do more to help our most vulnerable households with rising costs.
“They need targeted support. So I am also doubling the Household Support Fund to £1billion.”
What help you can get varies depending on where you live – each council decides what help to offer to struggling families.
Most read in Money
That means that some families could get more than others simply because they live in a different catchment area.
The Sun has reported on the different kinds of help that local councils up and down the country are offering.
For example, were able to claim a £125 voucher to help pay for food and other essentials.
While in Barnsley, households could get up to £200 in vouchers to spend at supermarkets and shops including Aldi, Asda, Argos and Currys.
You can apply for the Household Support Scheme through your local council – each one will have a different application process.
That means the eligibility requirements may vary – you should check with your local council to get more details on this.
To find out how to apply for the Household Support Scheme, find who your local council is using the gov.uk council finder tool.
Once you’ve found yours, look on your local authority’s website for more information on how to apply.
If you can’t find any information on the Household Support Fund on your council’s website, it’s worth calling them up for more details on how to apply.
Experts said the £500million extra funding would be good for struggling Brits – but questioned whether it would go far enough.
StepChange chief executive Phil Andrew said: “The additional £500 million to the household support fund is of course welcome, but a drop in the ocean in terms of addressing the scale of need among the most financially vulnerable households in the light of the dramatic rise in the cost of living.
“We are now really worried that there will be an increase in the number of households who simply won’t be able to make ends meet.”
Interactive Investor senior personal finance analyst Myron Jobson said: “There was some respite for low-income households in the form of an extra £1 billion in funding to the Household Support Fund.
“However, they might have to contend with large amounts of red tape to get much needed financial support.”
Mr Sunak announced a number of other measures at noon today to help Brits who are battling against a cost of living crisis.
He will cut fuel duty from 6pm tonight and scrap VAT on home insulation costs.
He also also announced a £6billion tax cut by raising the NICs threshold by £3,000 in July.
His speech came just hours after inflation hit a 30-year high of 6.2%, squeezing family budgets even tighter.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team?
