Household Support Fund
Case reference FOI2022/01410
Published 28 October 2022
Request
I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, the following information regarding the Household Support Fund for Herefordshire.
1. The total number of applications received for the first round of the Household Support Fund, running from October 2021 to March 2022. Please could you provide a breakdown showing the number of successful and unsuccessful applications. Please could you, if possible, provide reasons for why applications were unsuccessful.
2. The total number of applications received for the second round of the Household Support Fund, running from April 2022 to September 2022. Please could you provide a breakdown showing the number of successful and unsuccessful applications. Please could you, if possible, provide reasons for why applications were unsuccessful.
3. The Grant Usage of the first round of the Household Support Fund. Please could you provide data for:
a. The number and £ value of total awards provided
b. The number and £ value of total awards split by household composition
c. The number and £ value of total awards split by category, such as Energy and water, Food, Essentials linked to energy and water, Wider essentials, Housing costs, and any other categories
d. any other available data regarding the Household Support Fund
Please could you provide the information in the form of an CSV or other spreadsheet file.
4. The Grant Usage of the second round of the Household Support Fund. Please could you provide data for:
a. The number and £ value of total awards provided
b. The number and £ value of total awards split by household composition
c. The number and £ value of total awards split by category, such as Energy and water, Food, Essentials linked to energy and water, Wider essentials, Housing costs, and any other categories
d. any other available data regarding the Household Support Fund
Please could you provide the information in the form of an CSV or other spreadsheet file.
5. The average, highest and lowest amount provided during the first round of the Household Support Fund.
6. The average, highest and lowest amount provided during the second round of the Household Support Fund.
Response
I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, the following information regarding the Household Support Fund for Herefordshire.
1. The total number of applications received for the first round of the Household Support Fund, running from October 2021 to March 2022. Please could you provide a breakdown showing the number of successful and unsuccessful applications. Please could you, if possible, provide reasons for why applications were unsuccessful.
1,469 applications were received of which 1,145 were successful and 324 were unsuccessful due to either an incomplete application form or not meeting the scheme criteria.
2. The total number of applications received for the second round of the Household Support Fund, running from April 2022 to September 2022. Please could you provide a breakdown showing the number of successful and unsuccessful applications. Please could you, if possible, provide reasons for why applications were unsuccessful.
Herefordshire Council did not run an open application process as part of this round of the Household Support Fund which was in line with the DWP guidance.
3. The Grant Usage of the first round of the Household Support Fund. Please could you provide data for:
a. The number and £ value of total awards provided
Please see attached spreadsheet.
b. The number and £ value of total awards split by household composition
Please see attached spreadsheet.
c. The number and £ value of total awards split by category, such as Energy and water, Food, Essentials linked to energy and water, Wider essentials, Housing costs, and any other categories
Please see attached spreadsheet.
d. any other available data regarding the Household Support Fund
Please see attached spreadsheet.
4. The Grant Usage of the second round of the Household Support Fund. Please could you provide data for:
a. The number and £ value of total awards provided
Please see attached spreadsheet.
b. The number and £ value of total awards split by household composition
Please see attached spreadsheet.
c. The number and £ value of total awards split by category, such as Energy and water, Food, Essentials linked to energy and water, Wider essentials, Housing costs, and any other categories
Please see attached spreadsheet.
d. any other available data regarding the Household Support Fund
Please see attached spreadsheet.
5. The average, highest and lowest amount provided during the first round of the Household Support Fund.
The scheme provided free school meal vouchers and £60 grants to eligible applicants; the amounts awarded did not vary.
6. The average, highest and lowest amount provided during the second round of the Household Support Fund.
Average - £32.82 (cost of direct benefit divided by volume)
Highest - £500 (fuel grant to households in need - delivery of heating oil is minimum of 500 litres)
Lowest - £15 (food voucher for a week during school holiday for a child entitled to free school meals)
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.