Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made by the Children's Society have revealed upper-tier local authorities in England together spent just 31 per cent (£40.8m) of the government's recommended £129.6m total allocation on local welfare assistance schemes (LWAS) in 2017/18.
The Children's Society report calls for a series of measures to improve access to the schemes, which provide the most in-need families with emergency shopping vouchers, electricity meter top-ups, white goods or cash grants or loans.
The calls include for the government to produce new guidance to ensure councils consider the presence of children when assessing applications.
The report also urges councils to make decisions within 24-hours in emergencies, open schemes to people in work, and ensure awards available from all councils include cash and support with child-related costs like school uniform.
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