Vulnerable people struggle to access UK household support fund
Vulnerable people are struggling to access food vouchers and cash grants introduced under a government scheme to help with the cost of living crisis.
The £1bn household support fund (HSF) has been beset by problems, with councils stuck trying to figure out workable payment methods to help those in acute need of financial support.
Ministers launched the HSF last autumn, initially pledging £500m and instructing local councils to distribute the money among poorer households in order to help with food, clothing and utility costs. The fund was later doubled in May and extended until the end of September.
David, 31, a social worker from Liverpool, is one of a number of people who told the Guardian Community of their experience of applying for the small government cash grants.
In February, David received a £60 grant from his council for gas and electricity in the form of a paper voucher and the instruction to redeem it at a shop with a PayPoint.
“I was unable to cash this in, despite visiting over 10 local PayPoint registered shops, all independent corner shops,” he said. “I was told to come back later, that the manager needed to authorise it, that the ‘system’ was down, I got a wide variety of excuses.
“In the end I threw the voucher away. It was incredibly frustrating.”
Nicola, who lives in the borough of Westminster and is on universal credit due to chronic illness, successfully accessed two HSF grants herself worth £150 each, and has helped various other people from her local constituency of Westminster north navigate what appears to be a Kafkaesque application and redemption process she described as “a nightmare”.
“The government has come up with this convoluted, chaotic system by giving the money to local authorities, which eat
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