Household Support Fund
Derby City Council has received an additional £2.225 million in Household Support Funding (HSF) from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help residents through the ongoing cost of living crisis. Over the next six months, this funding will directly support those most in need by helping with essentials like food, energy, and household items.
The HSF will run until 31 March 2025, delivering targeted support through several initiatives.
Further help with the cost of living can be found on the GOV.UK website and Community Action Derby.
How does the scheme work?
Support is provided in the following ways for eligible Derby households most in need:
Free school meals
Over 15,900 Derby city households with children receiving benefit-related free school meals will be supported with supermarket food vouchers providing over 48,000 meals during the October 2024, December 2024, and February 2025 term breaks.
Food vouchers
The food voucher scheme supports eligible households in financial crisis with supermarket food vouchers towards the cost of living.
The online food voucher application form is now open through to the end of March 2025, or until all the allocated £500,000 funding is awarded.
Only one award will be made per eligible household. The voucher values are allocated as follows:
- £50 for a single adult household
- £75 for a multiple adult household
- £125 for a household with children under the age of 19
We’re working with several community partners across the city where you can go for support with making an application. More details about the Warm Welcome Hubs can be found at Community Action Derby.
We anticipate a high number of applications for food voucher support which can take up to 15 days to process. If you need help with food urgently, contact Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance.
Warm Welcome Hubs
The fund also provides financial support for over 40 local community services and organisations across the city to further develop a community led cost of living support network that includes a warm welcome, hot meal, help towards energy costs as well as help accessing other cost of living support.
During summer 2024, the hubs received over 37,300 visits from adults and over 4,050 children.
More details about the Warm Welcome Hubs can be found at Community Action Derby.
Energy support
The fund provides access to financial support for help with energy costs in the form of PayPoint energy vouchers.
The energy scheme will open in November for applications through to the end of March 2025, or until all the allocated £185,000 funding is awarded. This support is available to vulnerable households and those in financial crisis through the Warm Welcome Hubs across Derby city.
Pensioner support
Under the new HSF scheme, Derby City Council has identified over 2000 households with pensioners who are not in receipt of pension credits – and therefore will not receive the winter fuel payment – but are in low-income households in receipt of Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit.
These households will automatically receive a direct payment of £100 from the Council by February 2025. People in this category do not need to do anything, payments will be made directly to their bank accounts.
Pensioners can also access support with food and energy through our Warm Welcome Hubs across Derby city.
Pensioners are encouraged to check if they are eligible for Pension Credits by calling the Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234. A friend or family member can call for your if you can’t use the phone. The deadline for applying for pension credit is 21 December 2024.
You can also use the Pension Credit calculator to check your eligibility and get an estimate of how much you could get.
Other support
The fund is also being used to deliver targeted support through several new initiatives designed to address key areas of concern for Derby’s communities.
We will be using the funding to help deliver support to eligible households including:
- Essential household items aimed at reducing energy bills.
- Financial Wellbeing Workshops.
- Leaving care food voucher support.
If you would like more information about what support is available to help with cost of living related issues, visit Community Action Derby’s online hub to learn more about upcoming events, free resources and essential information.