I thank my hon. Friend for raising that really important issue. One of the reasons why I and the Safeguarding Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), worked closely together on both the homelessness strategy and the violence against women and girls strategy was to ensure that that area of policy joined up—16% of homelessness is caused by domestic abuse. That is why we will not stop until those families leaving refuge have a decent place to be—including the furniture they need—to make a house a home.

With many local authorities spending less than 1% of their household support fund on furniture, many domestic abuse survivors are being placed in social housing without access to essential furniture or white goods. What assurances can the Minister give this winter to residents in Heywood and Middleton North who, although grateful for the fresh start that social housing can offer, are living—often with children—in properties that feel bare, cold and not like home?

Percentages of Household Support Fund (HSF) spend by category are published and available here: Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK

Table 2 shows a breakdown of HSF spending by category. Furniture and white goods are included within the “wider essentials” category, which also covers items such as clothing, period and hygiene products, and essential transport-related costs. We do not hold data on the proportion specifically spent on furniture and appliances.

We are working closely with local authorities and external stakeholders on the detailed design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, and we plan to publish scheme guidance in January 2026.

Percentages of Household Support Fund (HSF) spend by category are published in DWP’s management information, based on data provided by local authorities. This information is available here:

Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK

For each release, Table 2 shows a breakdown of HSF spend by category. Furniture and appliances are included within the “wider essentials” category, which also covers items such as clothing, period and hygiene products, and essential transport-related costs. We do not hold data on the proportion specifically spent on furniture and appliances, so cannot provide a further breakdown.

The first release of management information (covering 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022) did not include this category, as it was not collected at that time.

In January 2025, the Department published an evaluation of the fourth Household Support Fund (HSF) scheme, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

We will use findings from delivery of the Household Support Fund to inform policy for the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, starting from 1 April 2026.

Social security spending is forecast to increase. We are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. And we secured the first ever multi-year settlement for the HSF – now the Crisis & Resistance Fund - until 2029 to give councils certainty over funding. This will ensure vulnerable households in the most need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. We have shared guidance and documentation ahead of the launch of the scheme, arranged and facilitated a series of Delivery Plan Drop-in and LA Knowledge Share sessions, to support LAs with completing Delivery Plans and with planning for the new scheme. No further assessment has been made.

The Department for Work and Pensions have no plans to review the guidance on the application process for this iteration of the Household Support Fund, having reviewed and updated the guidance to launch the scheme on 1 April 2025.

Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for The Fund. Every Local Authority must operate part of their scheme on an application basis, to allow the opportunity for individuals struggling with the cost of essentials to ask for further support.

We are providing £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund until 31 March 2026 in England. This enables Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food, and to develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience.

Authorities have the discretion to design and deliver their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out. This is because they have the experience and the relationships to determine how best to support those in their local areas. Authorities also have a wide range of data and sources of information at their disposal to identify and provide support to a broad cross section of vulnerable households.

Authorities must make sure that this support is clearly advertised and is inclusive and accessible. The scheme guidance states that every Authority must operate part of their scheme on an application basis to allow the opportunity for individuals struggling with the cost of essentials to ask for further support.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

The Government has extended the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will ensure vulnerable households in the most need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. No decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months. This Government has extended the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will ensure vulnerable households in the most need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. No decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Local Authorities can use the Household Support Fund (HSF) to provide support with energy costs to households in need.

Management Information on how funding has been spent in previous years, including the proportion spent on households with pensioners and the proportion spent on energy and water, can be found here: Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK

This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK.

That is why we are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will enable Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience.

However, no decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK.

That is why we are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will enable Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience.

To support Local Authorities, we have clarified what is meant by both crisis and preventative support, updating the schemes’ objectives to include both types of support, and providing definitions and examples of each eligible spend category in the guidance.

We encourage Local Authorities to consider how their provision of crisis support could have a longer-term, sustainable impact, and to offer some level of preventative support to stop vulnerable households from falling into, or falling further into, crisis.

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.