Household Support Fund extended after Winter Fuel Allowance cut
The new Labour Government is under pressure after scrapping the Winter Fuel Allowance which gives pensioners £100-£300 towards energy bills over the coldest months.
The Household Support Fund was brought in by the Conservative government to give councils in England a pot of money to use at their discretion.
Each local authority can choose how best to spend the money in their communities.
The funds are usually handed out to struggling families as cash payments but the amounts and eligibility will differ between councils.
It had been due to come to an end in September but will now run six months longer until the end of March 2025.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the £421 million fund will relaunch in a few weeks.
She said: "Pensioners and others struggling with the cost of living over the colder months should contact their local council to see what support may be available to them.”
About £79m will be handed to devolved nations under the Barnett formula with governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland able to choose how to distribute the money.
The £421m fund is much less than the Winter Fuel Allowance which cost the Treasury more than £2 billion a year.
Only those on the lowest incomes and receiving benefits such as Pension Credit will be eligible for the payment this year, cutting recipients from 10 million to 1.5m and saving the Government £1.4bn.
While the Household Support Fund has been called "a lifeline", The Salvation Army said it "only puts a plaster on poverty".
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition added it is "the bare minimum the Government needed to do this winter and it is a positive first step that ministers have indicated it will continue".
The coalition added: "But as the Winter Fuel Payment axe plunges more pensioners into fuel poverty, the Fund may prove to be inadequate as more vulnerable older people turn to local authorities for help and assistance."
Ms Kendall added: "We are extending the Household Support Fund for the next six months because it is a lifeline for people who are struggling with the cost of living.
"The dire inheritance we face means more people are living in poverty now than 14 years ago - and this Government is taking immediate action to prevent a cliff edge of support for the most vulnerable in our society.
"At the same time, we are taking action to fix the foundations of our country through our plans to grow the economy, make work pay, and Get Britain Working again."
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