Title

WELFARE

Budget: Household Support Fund extended

A scheme aimed at supporting the most vulnerable households will be extended for another six months, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in the Budget.

A scheme aimed at supporting the most vulnerable households will be extended for another six months, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in the Budget.

The Household Support Fund, which has provided £2.5bn in Government funding for local welfare support over the past two-and-a-half years, was due to end at the end of this month.

Hunt said: ‘With the battle against inflation still not over, now is not the time to stop the targeted help it offers.'

A cross-party open letter published on Monday, coordinated by the Local Government Association, had called on Hunt to announce an extension of the fund, which was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

WELFARE

LGR creates major challenges for the corporate services that many have reduced and pared back for years

By Stephen Moir | 13 April 2026

Stephen Moir says corporate services are exactly the teams and services that will need protection during transition to new unitary councils, investment and a...

WELFARE

Putting prevention first

By Matthew Ashton | 09 April 2026

Prof Matthew Ashton says investing in our communities and places, and delivering on the promise of prevention, are key to reversing the rising levels of illn...

WELFARE

From spreadsheets to services: How Fair Funding is starting to reach communities

By Sally Jameson | 09 April 2026

Having worked hard to secure the Fair Funding Settlement, the responsibility now is to show clearly how it will be used on the ground, says Sally Jameson.

WELFARE

New name, same game

By Cllr Richard Wright | 09 April 2026

Chair of the newly-branded LCN, Richard Wright, talks to Paul Marinko about the network’s aims, where it sits among other key organisations within the sector...

Popular articles by William Eichler