Household Support Fund plans to be discussed by Cabinet

The council has again been given £12.79m from government to use until 30 September 2022 with the focus on essential goods, food, energy and water and those in crisis arrears.

Government guidance on using the funding says that at least one-third of the total funding is to be ring-fenced to support households with children, at least another third to be ring-fenced to support pensioners and up to one-third of the total funding to other households genuinely in need of support. 

The city council again plans to use Birmingham Voluntary Services Council (BVSC) for payment and grant funding arrangements.

Hardship Grants up of £200 per household will be delivered across Birmingham’s ten localities and will be available to all household groups – this will account for £2,732,000, or 21 per cent of the funding.

£4m (31 per cent) will be spent on a Hardship Grant Scheme, for food and essentials targeted at households with children on free school meals and vulnerable children.

A Pensioner Household Hardship Grants scheme comprising £4m will be similar to funding from the first round of HSF grants and targeted at older adults known to social work teams.

Cllr Mariam Khan, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, said: “I’m pleased to see that there is again a dedicated allocation for adult care. Too many pensioners and other older adults are already really struggling and it is only right that they get the support they need.”

Cllr Karen McCarthy, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “It is good that this funding has been made available again and I must thank the voluntary sector that continues to do great work helping families in need and I know they will continue to help us support them. However, this funding really does feel like a sticking plaster in the current climate given the hardship that so many families are facing.”

The report will go to Cabinet on 7 June and details on how to apply will follow.