UK Household Support Fund from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024 - Find a freedom of information request

These questions specifically pertain to the funding allocated to English Local Authorities as part of the UK Household Support Fund from 1st April 2023 - 31st March 2024.

We understand that the late announcement of the extension of the Household Support Fund may mean that you are still making spending decisions. However, we hope that our report will influence any further extension of HSF so we need to gather our data asap to publish our report in the summer. Please answer as many questions as you can and if you are unable to answer any, please let us know when that information will be available and whether we need to submit a fresh FOI to obtain it.

There have been four tranches of the Household Support Fund so far, we are referring to the fourth tranche. We believe you were awarded £10,929,370 as part of this tranche.

1. Please provide us with a copy of the management information return you are required to provide to the DWP for tranche four of the Household Support Fund.

2. Please provide a breakdown of how tranche four was spent:

(a) Targeted Grants (by targeted grants we mean any direct grants/proactive support given to households that did not need to be applied)

(b) Free School Meal Holiday Vouchers

(c) Direct applications to the scheme (this means the amount that was open to application, but not through your local welfare assistance scheme)

(d) Local Welfare Assistance Scheme

(e) Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations

(f) Advice Services

(g) Other (please clarify)

3.

(a) If you accepted applications to this fund how many did you receive?

(b) How many applications were successful?

4. Excluding funding given to local welfare schemes or third-party organisations, how much of the HSF did you spend on helping people with furniture and appliances?

5. How much did you spend on:

(a) Vouchers

(b) Cash awards

(c) Third party organisations

(d) In kind furniture support

(e) In kind support for other purposes

(f) Other

6. How much do you plan to spend on free school meal vouchers in the holidays in 2024/25? If HSF is not renewed in September, will you continue with the vouchers for the second half of the year? And if so, how will you be funding it?

7. Did you take on additional staff for HSF 4 and if so are these staff likely to be retained for HSF 5?

8. To what extent does the short notice of the availability of funding inhibit the planning and delivery activity of HSF (e.g. internal finance and policy decision making, resource requirements, engagement with internal departments and external partners)?

9. When HSF 5 ends, what do you expect the impact to be on:

* Resources

* Local Welfare Provision scheme

* External partner agencies

* Communities

1. Please see attached for your response.

Should you require the attachments mentioned above please contact customerinformationservice@lincolnshire.gov.uk with the below reference number and this can be provided.

2.

a. £9,237,929.50.

b. £76,964.80 included within the figure above (£9,237,929.50).

c. £789,456.73.

d. Not applicable.

e. £1,503,026.46 distributed through third party organisations (cost applicable to application-based, proactive and other).

f. £15,000 (included in the figure below = £644,786.21).

g. £644,786.21.

3.

a. Not recorded.

b.6,625.

4. Tangible items = £101,469.96.

5. 

a. £7,882,493.84.

b. £1,142,739.18.

c. £1,503,026.46.

d. See below.

e. Tangible items = £101,469.96.

f. £42,443.00.

6. The funding of vouchers for Free School Meals eligible pupils provides financial support for food to a large target audience of low-income households (64% of the fund (c.£3.5m)). It is not specifically support for school holidays but to provides food support to low-income households with children.

If HSF is not renewed in September, will you continue with the vouchers for the second half of the year? And if so, how will you be funding it? No.

7. No.

8. The Council requires planning time, which involves engagement with key stakeholders, such as District Council’s, and going through the Council’s decision-making process. District Council’s also support the delivery of the programme Lincolnshire receives funding for, therefore they are required to following their own decision-making processes on funding they distribute. This can mean up to two months before the scheme can commence, which shortens the delivery period.

9. It is difficult to quantify at this stage. The HSF programme has been in operation since October 2021 and has supported vulnerable communities since, along with support from other Government measures, such as the Cost of Living payment. In the current economic circumstances, financial hardship will exist amongst certain households.