FOI request (FOIR-418439033)

Household Support Fund administration

Requested Thu 28 April 2022
Responded Tue 17 May 2022

Could you please provide details of how the Household Support Fund was administered for 2021/2022 at Hastings Borough Council, including (if available):

1. The breakdown of the proposed and/or actual spend of the Government allocation of the Household Support Fund.

2. Any eligibility criteria for allocations made using Household Support Funds.

3. Any application forms for allocations made using Household Support Funds.

4. Any internal reports or policies concerning the use of the Household Support Fund.

It may be the case that you have not yet developed a policy for the Household Support Fund Extension (April - September). However, if this is the case, could you please provide details of your plans for administering the Household Support Fund Extension, including (if available):

5. The breakdown of the proposed spend of the Household Support Fund extension.

6. Any eligibility criteria for allocations made using the Household Support Fund extension.

7. Any application forms for allocations made using the Household Support Fund extension.

8. Any internal reports or policies concerning the use of the Household Support Fund extension.

Response

Household Support Fund 2021/2022 at Hastings Borough Council

Q1. The breakdown of the proposed and/or actual spend of the Government allocation of the Household Support Fund.

In 2021 East Sussex County Council allocated £285,000 to Hastings Borough Council (HBC) in respect of the Household Support Fund (HSF) - the allocation included an agreed amount to be retained by HBC for the cost of administering the fund.

Breakdown

The amount of funding made available to HSF applicants totalled £261,600.

HBC received 1343 completed applications for the HSF fund.

1152 HSF applications were approved.

91 HSF applications were denied.

The amount of funding actually paid to HSF applicants totalled £261,572.28.

HBC had separate schemes for Energy and Water and Food - each scheme needed to be applied for separately. Totals for the two schemes are broken down as follows:

Energy and Water

255 applications were approved.

43 applications were denied.

Approved applications totalled £46,897.28.

Food

897 applications were approved.

48 applications were denied.

Approved applications totalled £214,675.

Q2. Any eligibility criteria for allocations made using Household Support Funds.

Please see attached document.

Q3. Any application forms for allocations made using Household Support Funds.

There were no paper application forms, applications had to be made online. The application questions asked for each of the two schemes were as follows:

Household Support Fund - Energy and Water Costs

How many adults aged 18 or over at the address (including yourself)?

Please provide the names of the occupants aged over 18 years.

How many children are under 18 at the address?

Please confirm the utility type, Supplier name and the amounts that you are applying for the award for. For example, "Water Bill, South East Water £50.00 - Gas Bill, British Gas £100.00".

Please state why you are unable to pay the amount owed to your utility provider.

If your account is overdrawn you may request first right of appropriation from your bank. This is a formal request to your bank not to use the funds to pay overdraft fees. Will you be making a first right of appropriation request? Yes / No

Household Support Fund - Food

>How many adults aged 18 or over at the address (including yourself)?

Please provide the names of the occupants aged over 18 years.

How many children are under 18 at the address?

Please state why you wish to claim for food vouchers.

Q4. Any internal reports or policies concerning the use of the Household Support Fund.

There were no other internal reports or policies concerning the use of the Household Support Fund.

Household Support Fund Extension (April - September)

Details regarding the above are still being considered and have not yet been finalised. I can confirm however that Hastings Borough Council has been allocated £412,280 of which 12% is to be used for HBC's administration costs - the remaining amount will be made available to HSF applicants.

Attachments

• FOIR-418439033_FOIR-418439033_2-FOI_418439033_-_HSF_Policy.pdf