Household Support Fund (HSF)
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We've been allocated funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support households in Luton between April 2023 and March 2024 with food, energy bills and other essentials.
Support may be provided in a number of ways including vouchers which can be used in supermarkets, and for gas and electric prepayment meters.
Who will the scheme help?
We've identified the following groups for targeted support:
- families with children eligible for free school meals (FSM)
- care leavers
- elderly or disabled residents in sheltered and supported accommodation
An application scheme will also be available to Luton residents. Details of the eligibility criteria are provided below. You may still be eligible for support under the application scheme even if you have received targeted support.
Applying to the HSF application scheme
You may be eligible for support through the HSF application scheme if you live in Luton, have less than £6,000 in savings and either:
- you receive one of the eligible benefits
- your household income is less than £34,100
How much support you receive will depend on whether:
- you're in receipt of any of the eligible benefits
- you have children under 5 living with you in your household
- you need to use electrical medical equipment or devices for your long term illness or disability
- you use a pre-payment meter for your gas or electricity
Apply to the Household Support Fund
You can apply for the HSF from the end of September 2023 until March 2024.
Only one application per household will be accepted. We'll assess and check the claims using the information submitted and available.
Awards will be made based on the:
- applicant’s personal circumstances
- conditions of the scheme
- availability of funds
Families with children who get free school meals will receive a supermarket voucher for each child during the school holidays.
This support can be worth over £190 per year per eligible child. If you have already claimed free school emails for you child you do not need to take any action and will receive this support automatically. If you think you are eligible but have not received any vouchers, please speak to your child’s school in the first instance.
If you have not applied for free school meals you will not automatically get this support even if your child is eligible. To make sure you don’t miss out please apply for free school meals.
You will receive a text message from ‘Huggg’ or an email from [email protected] with your e-voucher instructions before the start of every school holiday. Information on how to use you voucher can be found on the Huggg website.
If you have a question about your voucher, call 01582 510346 and select option 2.
If you are a care leaver you will be eligible for grocery vouchers. The vouchers will be given to you by your personal advisor (PA).
A care leaver is a young person aged 16 to 25 years old who:
- has been ‘looked after’ at some point since they were 14 years old
- were in care on or after their 16th birthday
If you are a care leaver having difficulties with the vouchers, or think you’re eligible for support but haven’t received a voucher, contact your personal adviser (PA) or call 01582 547820.
If you're in crisis or have an emergency, please see our list of emergency contacts.
The Household Support Fund has been provided by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to help local authorities support residents during the cost of living crisis. Below is a breakdown of the funds allocated to Luton Council since October 2021 and information on how the funding has been spent.
HSF 1: 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022
Luton Council was allocated £1,829,274 by the DWP to support vulnerable households during the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. In line with DWP guidance we provided pro-active targeted support and application based support to households meeting the specific criteria detailed below.
Group 1
Description
- Households with children eligible for free school meals
- Care leavers
- Households living in temporary accommodation
Amount: £1,255,500
Est number of households*: 7,305
Group 2
Description: households identified through data held by the council as experiencing financial difficulty to apply for support
Amount: £479,379
Est number of households*: 1,582
Group 3
Description: residents who wished to self-refer via our local welfare assistance scheme
Amount: £22,705
Est number of households*: 380
Administration
Amount: £71,690
Est number of households*: N/A
Total spend
Amount: £1,829,274
Est number of households*: 9267
HSF 2: 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022
Luton Council was allocated with £1,829,274 by the DWP to support vulnerable households during the period 01 April 2022 to 30 September 2022. In line with DWP guidance we provided pro-active targeted support to households meeting specific criteria detailed below.
Group 1
Description: households with children eligible for free school meals
Amount: £1,145,500
Est number of households*: 6560
Group 2
Description: care leavers
Amount: £44,631
Est number of households*: 643
Group 3
Description: pensioners eligible for pension credit
Amount: £500,000
Est number of households*: 4,273
Group 4
Description: pensioners not entitled pension credit
Amount: £81,690
Est number of households*: 1,631
Administration
Amount: £57,453
Est number of households*: N/A
Total spend
Amount: £1,829,274
Est number of households*: 13107
HSF 3: 01 October 2022 to 31 March 2023
Luton Council was allocated with £1,829,274 by the DWP to support vulnerable households during the period 01 October 2022 to 31 March 2022. In line with DWP guidance we provided pro-active targeted support and application based support to households meeting specific criteria detailed below.
* Households may have received multiple awards throughout the duration of the scheme. For example, families in receipt of free school meals will have been issued with vouchers in October, December, February and March. Additionally, Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 are not mutually exclusive, therefore households may receive awards in one or more of the groups.
Group 1
Description: households with children eligible for free school meals
Amount: £1,024,755
Est number of households*: 6432
Group 2
Description: care leavers
Amount: £88,340
Est number of households*: 303
Group 3
Description: self-referral application scheme
Amount: £548,305
Est number of households*: 3103
Group 4
Description: tangible items via VCS organisations
Amount: £75,580
Est number of households*: 273
Administration
Amount: £92,193
Est number of households*: N/A
Total spend
Amount: £1,829,173
Est number of households*: 10,111
HSF 4: 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
Luton Council has been allocated £3,658,584 by the DWP to support vulnerable households during the period 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
In line with DWP guidance we have identified groups for targeted support and also have a self-referral application scheme in operation. Details of how the council intends to spend the funding is publicly available on the Luton Borough Council website.
Full details of the spend and number of households supported will be published at the end of the funding period.
See our Luton, supporting you webpage, which include information on local support available.
For more information on other cost of living support available, visit GOV.UK - Cost of living support.
For information and support on finding employment please visit our help finding a job page or visit the finding a job GOV.UK