The Chancellor's Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022 announced an additional £1 billion of funding to help households with the cost of essentials, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed in its guidance for local councils1. In England, £842 million of that total is being provided to extend the Household Support Fund by a further 12 months, from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 20241. The additional funding will be used by local authorities to support vulnerable households1.
The fund was first announced on 30 September 2021 as a £500 million support fund for vulnerable households, covering 6 October 2021 to 31 March 20221. It was extended on 23 March 2022 to 30 September 2022 with a further £500 million, and again on 26 May 2022 to 31 March 2023 with another £500 million1. The DWP states that the November 2022 announcement brings total funding for this support to £2.5 billion since October 20211. Elsewhere on the same page it puts the total announced since October 2021 at £3 billion including Barnett impact, with over £2.5 billion allocated to local authorities in England1. The two figures are not reconciled in the guidance.
The fund is distributed by councils in England, and the grant is paid through small payments to support vulnerable households with daily needs such as food, clothing, and utilities1. The guidance states that households in need of support should contact their local council to find out more information and apply for the fund1. Barnett formula consequentials apply in the usual way, and it is for the devolved governments to decide how to allocate that additional funding1.
| Period | Additional funding announced | England allocation |
|---|---|---|
| 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 | £500 million | Not stated separately |
| 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022 | £500 million | Not stated separately |
| 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 | £500 million | Not stated separately |
| 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 | £1 billion | £842 million |
Why it matters for households
The Household Support Fund is a crisis payment rather than a standing entitlement. It is administered at council level, so what a household can receive, and on what terms, depends on where it lives rather than on a national rate. The guidance describes the grant as small payments towards daily needs including utilities, which places it alongside other help for low-income households in England rather than in place of a bill reduction or a tariff change. For a home's energy independence, the practical effect is short-term: it can clear an arrears balance or cover a top-up, but it does not alter how a property is heated or how much energy it needs. Households with medical equipment or other dependency on powered devices sit in a separate category of need, covered in the site's material on vulnerable and medically dependent households. Support under the fund is one of several routes; the wider grants and schemes landscape includes capital measures for insulation and heating, which have different eligibility rules, such as those set out for the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Arrangements differ outside England, including help for low-income households in Northern Ireland.
What happens next
The extension runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 20241. The guidance page records later extensions, including funding available to local authorities in England from 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024, and from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 20251. It also records a further extension from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, with £742 million for local authorities in England, announced on 30 October 20241. No allocation method for individual households beyond council discretion is set out in the guidance1.