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Written question asked by Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 11 March 2025. It was answered by Baroness Sherlock (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 March 2025 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.


Household Support Fund

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to review the Household Support Fund guidance to ensure the fund prevents people from facing serious financial hardship.

Answer

The Department for Work and Pensions conducted an evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund, that ran from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This has been published and can be found here: Evaluation of the Household Support Fund 4 - GOV.UK.

The evaluation followed a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to assess the effectiveness of the HSF4 delivery by Local Authorities and its benefits for recipients, to inform the design of potential future funding schemes. When setting the Household Support Fund guidance, the Department considers evaluation activities alongside feedback from stakeholder engagement sessions.

The Household Support Fund scheme guidance and individual Local Authority funding allocations for the forthcoming extension will be announced as soon as possible ahead of the scheme beginning on 1 April 2025.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL5263
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Household Support Fund
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk