Household Support Fund

The Government has provided funding for us to support people who are struggling to:

• buy food
• pay energy and water bills
• cover other essential costs linked to energy and water and wider essentials (including sanitary products, warm clothing, soap, blankets)

Due to the limited amount of funds available, we will prioritise items necessary for day to day living, but other essential types of support will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Household Support Fund is available until 30 September 2022.

Who the funding is for

We aim to support as many residents as we can who meet the eligibility criteria and need our help the most.

To apply for the funding you must:

• live in South Gloucestershire
• be over 18 years old
• need immediate or long term support

How to apply

Information you will need to give includes:

• how your household has been affected financially
• what you need help with
• your personal details (name, address, email or phone number)

You will also need to complete an income and expenditure sheet.

If you are unable to apply online you can:

• visit one of our One Stop Shops
• call the Citizens Advice Bureau on 01454 334961
• call our contact centre on 01454 868009

Find out how we collect, use and share your data in our privacy notice.

Someone else can fill in the form for you. If your application is approved and we decide to pay you money into a bank account, it must be your account.

We cannot pay it into the account of the person completing the form for you.

What happens after you apply

After you apply you will hear from us within 4 working days for immediate support and 7 working days for long term support.

How we will pay you

We may pay the money into your bank account or issue a pre-paid card.

If we are paying money into your bank account and you are overdrawn, you can tell your bank that the money we give you is to pay a bill.

They can arrange for our payment to be set aside instead of it being used to reduce your overdraft.

Your benefit payments

You must declare any money given to you through the Household Support Fund as part of your Universal Credit (UC) assessment.

It will not make any difference to your UC payment.

Your right to appeal

You (or someone representing you) can appeal if:

• your application has been unsuccessful
• you are not happy with the way we paid you the money or who we paid it to
• you are not happy with the amount of money we have given you
• we have cancelled a payment due to misuse or fraud and you do not agree with this

The appeal must be made verbally or in writing within 7 days of our decision.

You must tell us why you feel the decision is unfair and give supporting evidence.

Your appeal will be reviewed by a senior officer within 14 days of us receiving it.

Other things that can help

One You – getting enough to eat
Our financial support for residents