Household Support Fund

The Household Support Fund (HSF) is a grant funded by UK Government to support those most in need and to help with the rising cost of living. It is not charity and does not need to be paid back.

You can find out information on other forms of support for household bills on the GOV.UK website.

On 6 March 2024, the funding period was extended for a further six months, to run from 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024.

In Cambridgeshire, we will be re-opening for applications on 11 April 2024.

We have committed to using this funding to support households experiencing immediate financial hardship, through the provision of financial vouchers or cash payments to help to cover the cost of:

• Household Energy Bills.
• Food

Financial support options available

The Household Support Fund can offer you the following means of financial support:

Holiday Voucher Scheme

• The Holiday Voucher Scheme offers households in receipt of Free School Meals, supermarket vouchers to support them during school holidays between April 2024 and September 2024.

Vouchers are issued to the value of £15 per eligible child per week

To see if you’re eligible and how to access this support, please visit our Cambridgeshire Holiday Voucher Scheme page for further information.

Financial Award

A financial award, totalling £110 (per household). This award can be paid in one lump sum to you or, split into your choice of different vouchers as follows:

• Paypoint Cashout Voucher - a code sent to your mobile number and redeemable at any PayPoint site. Find your local PayPoint store here.
• Supermarket Voucher - sent by email to be redeemed at any of the following supermarkets: Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco. Please note only Asda vouchers can be used online.
• Paypoint Energy Voucher - sent to your mobile number and redeemable at any PayPoint site. This voucher can only be used if you have a pre-payment meter that requires them to top up via key/fob in store and their provider is NOT British Gas.
• BACS Transfer - amount sent directly to your bank account. Payment can take up to 3 working days to show in your account. We will require your bank account name, account number and sort code for processing.

If you live with a spouse or partner, you must make a joint application for your household (even if your spouse/partner is not applying). Your eligibility will depend on your partner’s income, as well as your own.

The appropriate financial support payment will be awarded to you, following assessment of your eligibility.

Each case will be treated with the strictest confidence and discretion and processed fairly and equitably.

Eligibility

Households are eligible to access Household Support Fund financial support, if all of the following apply (to both you and others in your household):

• Currently live in Cambridgeshire.
• Have £16,000 or less in money, savings, and investments.
• Have income levels less than identified below:

If you are paid monthly, the figures below are before any tax and you must include all sources of income which includes benefits received, pensions, income from property or other investments.

If you are paid weekly the figures relate to the amount you receive each week after any changes made by the tax and benefit systems.

The funding is open to all, but we particularly encourage applications from those households including (but not limited to):

• Disabled people with increased utility bills due to usage of equipment or transport costs.
• Those in receipt of housing benefit only, for example those living in multiple occupation households and paying fuel through meters etc.
• People who are entitled to but are not claiming any qualifying benefits.

How to apply

You can apply to us directly, by completing our online application form.

If you are of state pension age and meet the above eligibility criteria, you can also access support through our partner Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by phone on 01223 221929 or by email at hsf@ageukcap.org.uk

Following receipt of your application, we will review the information you have provided and check that you meet eligibility criteria. Your application will be allocated to one of our Hub Coordinators, who will contact you by telephone (or email if no telephone number provided) to discuss your application and confirm your eligibility for financial support.

A reminder that if you live with a spouse or partner, you must make a joint application for your household (even if your spouse/partner is not applying). Your eligibility will depend on your partner’s income, as well as your own.

Please Note: It is imperative that we can contact you to discuss your application and understand more about your circumstances.

Telephone calls from us will display as ‘No Caller ID’ on your phone. We will attempt to call you on three occasions. If unsuccessful in reaching you, an email will be sent to the address provided in your application. If no response is received to that email, your application will be closed.

We have built links with a network of support agencies across the county (our Trusted Partners), who offer help for a range of challenges individuals may face. You are welcome to connect with these agencies for support and advice.

To discover our trusted partners in your area, please look at the Trusted Partner section below.

Trusted partners

We have built links with a network of support agencies across the county (our Trusted Partners), who offer help for a range of challenges individuals may face. You are welcome to connect with these agencies for support and advice.

If you represent a local community group and would like to be considered to issue Household Support Fund direct awards please email CommunityCV@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Household Support Fund privacy notice

In these difficult times, we are working very closely with our district and city council partners, schools, voluntary sector organisations as well as the volunteers who are helping to deliver the vital support to our local communities. This means that we will need to receive and share personal information about our residents. Our Household Support Fund privacy notice provides information about what kind of personal information we request, what we may do with it and who may have access to it.

Fraud Statement

The County Council is required by law to protect the public funds it administers.

If you falsely declare your circumstances, provide a false statement, or provide false evidence in support of your application, you may have committed an offence under the Fraud Act 2006. Where the Council suspects that fraud may have occurred, the matter will be investigated and may lead to criminal proceedings.