Southampton City Council warns financial support will end as Government funding expires
It was designed to help residents with energy and water bills, food and other essential items
Financial support provided to some of the most vulnerable Southampton residents cannot be continued by the city council when government funding stops.
The planned expiration of the household support fund (HSF) next month leaves many families facing a cliff-edge in cost of living support, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.
The final round of the HSF saw central government allocate £2.2million to Southampton City Council for a period from April 1 to September 30.
The fund, which had several tranches, was launched in October 2021 by the former Conservative government.
It was designed to help residents with energy and water bills, food and other essential items.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Southampton City Council if it would be able to cover the financial contribution previously provided through the HSF allocations.
A local authority spokesperson said: “Southampton City Council will be unable to replicate the financial support previously offered through the household support fund. We would like to remind residents that we have a dedicated cost of living page which provides lots of useful information.”
The spokesperson said the council’s “significantly reduced” local welfare provision fund could only assist the most vulnerable residents with essential items such as white goods and utility top-ups via an agency referral.
They added: “The council has actively engaged in lobbying the previous government for support and will be reaching out to the current government to lobby for their support as well.”
Southampton City Council was one of 84 authorities that responded to a survey by the LGA, which found six in 10 councils will not be able to provide extra welfare support.
The exclusive LGA research suggested 94 per cent of authorities that responded believed the HSF should continue.
Meanwhile, 84 per cent expected demand for cost of living support to increase over the winter.
At a Southampton City Council meeting in May, Labour cabinet member for communities and safer city Cllr Christie Lambert said the HSF allocation was welcome but nowhere near what was needed.
Bitterne Park Labour councillor Amanda Barnes-Andrews said the “sticking-plaster” approach from the HSF needed a “complete overhaul”.
Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Baillie accused his Labour counterparts of not being able to “receive anything with any grace whatsoever”.
Southampton’s final HSF allocation from the Department for Work and Pensions has been used to provide free school meals during the school holidays and to help low-income households with supermarket vouchers.