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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Ruby Flanagan

Councils still have around £65million to give away through their Household Support Fund

Around £65million has yet to be claimed from the Household Support Fund according to official figures.

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from Creditspring, also revealed that the amount unclaimed exceeded £1million for multiple councils.

Some councils were also found to have several million still to give away.

The Household Support Fund was originally launched in September 2021 and provided local authorities with a cut of a £500million cash pot to help those most in need with the rising cost of living.

Each council was then able to distribute the cash at their discretion to residents in their area with help consisting of things such as vouchers for food and other essentials, bill discounts, and cash grants.

As each individual council is in charge of what they do with the money, what help is available differs between each area, and there are different rules around how to apply.

The current scheme, which was worth £421million, was originally going to close at the end of this month.

However, the Government announced that it was to be extended for the fourth time to help struggling households with the high cost of living.

The extension came with an extra £842million worth of funding.

Before the extension, the Government told the local authorities that any leftover money had to be returned.

With £65million still available to be claimed from the fund, Creditspring says that local councils need to "do more" to advertise the scheme and ensure that vulnerable households know about the help available.

Neil Kadagathur, co-founder and CEO of Creditspring, said: “The Household Support Fund is a vital support package which has simply not been taken full advantage of.

"Councils need to first, do more to ensure the vulnerable households who are reliant on support such as this are aware that they’re eligible and then make the application process much simpler.

“Without improving awareness of support solutions like the Household Support Fund, more households, particularly those in the near-prime segment, will be forced to rely on high cost credit products.

"This risks creating a future credit crisis which will impact the most vulnerable who could say debt spiral out of control. Households urgently need support now before their financial position worsens.”

List of councils with Household Support Funding left:

  1. Lancashire County Council - £6,085,815
  2. Essex County Council - £5,296,663 (fully committed for projects)
  3. Derbyshire County Council - £4,351,200 (expect all of this to be spent by the end of March 2023)
  4. Surrey County Council - £3,641,148.41
  5. West Sussex County Council - £3,027,131.11
  6. Medway Council - £2,867,650
  7. South Staffordshire - £2,732,953
  8. Sheffield City Council - £2,146,915
  9. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council - £2,049,915
  10. Bristol City Council - £2,001,492
  11. London Borough of Southwark - £1,733,524
  12. Sunderland City Council - £1,679,419
  13. Warwickshire County Council - £1,657,550
  14. London Borough of Bexley - £1,542,000 (expected to be fully spent by 31 March 2023)
  15. Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council - £1,533,000
  16. Hull City Council - £1,468,093 (allocated to payment schemes)
  17. Nottingham City Council - £1,390,521
  18. London Borough of Lambeth - £1,259,768.01
  19. City of Westminster - £1,258,977
  20. Portsmouth City Council - £1,152,009
  21. London Borough of Bromley - £1,011,000
  22. London Borough of Ealing - £1,029,000
  23. Cumbria County Council - approx £1million
  24. Manchester City Council - £994,049
  25. London Borough of Camden - £967,787
  26. East Riding of Yorkshire Council - £825,632
  27. Cheshire West and Chester - £823,627
  28. Milton Keynes Council - £823,627
  29. North Tyneside Council - £724,608
  30. Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - £659,791.73 (some already committed)
  31. Trafford Council - £644,834.48
  32. Bedford Borough Council - £623,000
  33. Northumberland County Council - £609,532
  34. Central Bedfordshire Council - £582,840
  35. North Somerset Council - £549,701
  36. London Borough of Newham - £448,000
  37. Halton Borough Council - £439,141
  38. Thurrock Council - £403,701
  39. Havant District Council - £357,389
  40. Rother District Council - £320,000 (committed to payments)
  41. Spelthorne Borough Council - £243,591
  42. Lancaster City Council - £226,145
  43. Test Valley Borough Council - £214,840
  44. Wyre Forest District Council - £202,642
  45. Cheshire EastApproximately - £200,000
  46. Preston City Council - £199,396
  47. Chorley Borough Council - £186,846
  48. East Lindsey District Council - £181,897
  49. Wealden District Council - £178,226
  50. Sevenoaks District Council - £171,615
  51. Kent County Council - £169,796
  52. Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames - £150,000
  53. Teignbridge District Council - £142,634
  54. East Devon - £138,288
  55. Hastings Borough Council - £128,880
  56. Brighton and Hove City Council - £125,406
  57. London Borough of Croydon - £121,000
  58. Wigan Metropolitan Borough - £114,663
  59. Torridge District Council - £104,742
  60. Ribble Valley Borough Council - £95,950
  61. Boston Borough Council - £87,460
  62. Chesterfield Borough Council - £79,054
  63. Telford & Wrekin Council - £75,000
  64. Isle of Wight Council - £70,000
  65. City of London Corporation - £62,574
  66. West Berkshire Council - £52,799
  67. Bath & North East Somerset Council - £47,600
  68. Ipswich Borough Council - £46,354.92
  69. North Kesteven District Council - £42,078
  70. Surrey Heath Borough Council - £40,050
  71. East Hampshire District Council - £39,132
  72. Great Yarmouth Borough Council - £33,691
  73. New Forest District Council - £28,504
  74. South Kesteven - £18,503
  75. West Oxfordshire - £5,500
  76. Plymouth City Council - £3,203.82

Councils that report having no funding left

  • Calderdale
  • Wirral Metropolitan Borough
  • Worcestershire County Council
  • Stoke-on-Trent City Council
  • Southampton City Council
  • Somerset County Council
  • North Devon District Council
  • London Borough of Waltham Forest
  • Flintshire County Council
  • Gloucestershire County Council
  • London Borough of Islington
  • London Borough of Barnet

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