Spring Budget 2024: Household Support Fund renewed for another six months

The Household Support Fund is a pot of money available to local authorities to help meet the emergency needs of local people, including households experiencing the crisis of acute and long-term food poverty. Some local authorities also use this money to pay for food provision during the school holidays, for children eligible for free school meals.

The Chancellor has announced an extension of the Household Support Fund for another six months, allocating an additional £500 million. The Chancellor said that "the battle against inflation was still not over and now is not the time to stop the targeted help it offers.”

Sustainable Food Places, along with many organisations, had been calling for further extension of the Household Support Fund for at least another 12 months to April 2025 in our submission to the Budget and briefing. In February, Sustainable Food Places joined Barnardo’s and over 120 other organisations in a joint letter to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. The Fund has been distributing additional support to families experiencing food insecurity, as well as a range of other needs. 37% of Household Support Funds in 2022/23 were used by councils to provide support to children eligible for free school meals during school holidays – including cash support, food vouchers or boosting holiday clubs and programmes.

With Sustainable Food Places network members telling us they are experiencing nine times the level of requests since before the pandemic, councils and local food partnerships are struggling to meet needs, and budgets are stretched to breaking point. 

Sustain's Head of Local Action Sofia Parente said:

“We are pleased with the renewal of the Household Support Fund. However, the renewal is for a short period of time (6 months) and the announcement comes at the very last minute for councils to effectively plan the allocation of the fund. We hope the Chancellor and DWP use the next 6 months to plan mechanisms to support our most vulnerable residents with the cost of essentials, and particularly with solutions to prevent holiday hunger and promote access to healthy and nutritious food for those at risk of food insecurity.”