Budget 2023: Chancellor urged to offer permanent financial aid to vulnerable families

The charity has called on Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to provide for vulnerable families in tomorrow's budget (15 March) by funding long-term local welfare assistance through the Household Support Fund, in a letter signed by more than 400 councillors across the political spectrum.

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The letter urges the Chancellor to make a three-year investment starting in 2024 to local authorities in England, and to offer devolved administrations at least £1bn per year for a permanent Household Support Fund, to help families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

All eligible English local authorities should be required to provide a Household Support Fund scheme open to anyone in financial crisis with minimum basic monitoring needed, the letter adds.

It also calls for an additional five per cent of funding to be given to every local authority to deliver their schemes and ensure effective local coordination between partners and preventive services.

The government has also been urged by the charity to offer food vouchers and cash grants to help struggling families afford food, clothing and utilities, by providing an adequately funded social security system and better wages to low paid workers.

Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “With the extraordinary levels of demand for crisis support because of the cost-of-living squeeze, we desperately need long term security and funding for local welfare assistance schemes.

“Our campaign has gathered support from councillors across every political party and it underlines how crucial it is that struggling households can get Local Welfare Assistance to ensure families can weather these storms.” 

Labour councillor and leader of Cambridge City Council Anna Smith added: "This is such an important campaign. Local councils, working alongside other community organisations and volunteers, know only too well the really significant needs in our communities.

“This should not be a party-political issue. Helping those in our communities who are struggling the most should be a basic pledge for any party. I call on central government to back these proposals.”

This comes shortly after council leaders paid tribute to the thousands of residents who opened up their homes to host refugees under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, a year after it was launched.

The County Councils Network (CCN) said that councils are concerned that cuts to funding for Ukrainian refugees will impact their ability to support and integrate those in need, with local authorities set to receive almost half of what they did last year.

Data from CCN shows that county local authorities are likely to suffer most from this decrease, having seen the most refugees resettle in their areas. In the south east, 83 per cent of new arrivals settles in counties, and in the south west 69 per cent of Ukrainians were hosted or living in counties.