I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act to kindly request information relating to your allocation of the fifth and sixth tranche of the Household Support Fund.
Please see our list of questions attached, and pasted below.
1. Please provide us with a copy of the management information return you are required to provide to the DWP for both tranche five and six of the Household Support Fund.
2. Please provide a breakdown of how tranche five and six 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;
(a) Do you use HSF to provide furniture and appliances (such as cookers, fridges, washing machines etc.)?
(b) If yes, how much do you spend on furniture and appliance provision in each tranche?
5. For tranches five and six, how much did you spend on:
(a) Vouchers
(b) Cash awards
(c) Third party organisations
(d) In kind support
(e) Other
If you provide in kind support, what percentage would you estimate is spent on furniture and white goods?
Of the funds given to third party organisations, how much was given to organisations who provide furniture, white goods and furnishings?
6. How much do you plan to spend on free school meal vouchers in the holidays in 2025/26? If HSF is not renewed/replaced, will you continue with the vouchers in future years? And if so, how will you be funding it?
7. What additional benefits could your local authority experience if crisis funding was permanent and allocated in tranches of numerous years? Would it aid planning, delivery and efficiency?
8. If the HSF was to be replaced with a long-term funding pot, what form would you want it to take and how can central government ensure it has the greatest impact on those in poverty?
If you have any further comments about local welfare support or the Household Support Fund, please share it here.
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