Decision details

The Household Support Fund (HSF), first introduced in 2021/22, is funding that is made available via Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to provide crisis support to vulnerable households in the most need with the cost of essentials. The secondary objective is to provide preventative support to prevent vulnerable households from falling into – or falling further into – crisis.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) has been allocated £6,507,891 for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The allocation of this funding has been agreed by the GCC’s relevant Cabinet member which includes a sum of £ £1,424,000 allocated to the six district councils to enable them to provide their own localised schemes to support vulnerable people.

A sum of £262,329.50 has been allocated to Cheltenham Borough Council to cover the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The Council was notified of this allocation on 22 April with the request to submit a delivery plan.

Previous allocations of HSF were agreed by Cabinet in December 2022, June 2023, and July 2024.

This decision report sets out the allocation, distribution and monitoring of the grant.

To approve the proposals for the allocation of Household Support Fund 2025/26 for the award of grant made by Gloucestershire County Council on behalf of the Department of Works and Pensions under the Household Support Fund Programme 2025/26 as set out as set out in section 3 and Appendix A;
To delegate authority to the Head of communities, wellbeing & partnerships in consultation with the Cabinet Member Safety and Communities to submit the delivery plan to Gloucestershire County Council;
To delegate authority to the Head of communities, wellbeing & partnerships in consultation with the Cabinet Member Safety and Communities to enter into grant agreements with the provider organisations to deliver the Household Support Fund Programme 2025/26.

1 Background
The primary objective of HSF is to provide crisis support to vulnerable households in the most need with the cost of essentials. The main elements of this support to include:
• Food costs
• Energy and water costs
• Household essentials

The secondary objective is to provide preventative support to prevent vulnerable households from falling into – or falling further into – crisis. The main elements of this support to include:
• Advice services
• Preventative support with the aim of providing longer-term and sustainable solutions for vulnerable people

Each of the six district councils have the flexibility to develop their own schemes that best meets the needs of their local communities whilst complying with the conditions set by the DWP for delivery of the grant to provide support with food, energy and water bills, household items and other essential items.
In the guidance for County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England, the DWP sets out their definitions of eligible spend – as set out below.

Crisis Support
Authorities are expected to offer support to vulnerable households in the most need with the cost of essentials. This is defined as an immediate need where support offers immediate impact to those households. Support can be delivered through cash, vouchers or goods and services in kind.
There is no prescriptive list which provides a comprehensive definition of eligible spend under crisis support, but it may include spend on:
• Essentials – for example, energy, water and food support. This may include support with energy bills for any form of fuel that is used for the purpose of domestic heating, cooking, or lighting, including oil or portable gas cylinders. It can be used to support water bills including for drinking, washing, cooking, as well as for sanitary purposes and sewerage. It can be used for food support through vouchers, cash or goods-in-kind
• Wider essentials – the Fund can be used to support wider essentials which may include support with bills, clothing, period and hygiene products, essential transport-related costs such as repairing a car, buying a bicycle, or paying for fuel.
• One-off payments – can also be provided to prevent a crisis including insulation or energy efficient household items which reduce bills such as insulating a hot water tank, fitting draft excluders to a front door, or replacing inefficient lightbulbs or white goods. Plus the purchase of equipment such as fridges, freezers, ovens, slow cookers or costs associated with obtaining these essentials, for example, delivery, installation.
• Housing costs – the focus of support should be on bills and that support for housing costs should only be given where existing housing support schemes do not meet the need.
Preventative Support
Authorities are encouraged to deliver preventative support with the aim of preventing poverty locally and building local resilience through funding activities which prevent vulnerable households from falling into crisis. This could include specific support to individual residents or wider support within the broader community, such as warm spaces, providing funding to local community groups who deliver preventative services, or to signpost individuals to organisations which provide this support.
• Advice services – the Fund may be used to provide supplementary advice services to award recipients, including debt, benefit and or employment advice, where appropriate. We anticipate that a significant proportion of this might be through signposting to existing advice services funded through other routes, such as Help to Claim support, provided by Citizens Advice, which supports anyone making a new UC claim, up until their first full correct payment.
• Join-up between service providers - such as co-location points including shared spaces where different services could be delivered. For example, at community kitchens, there could be representatives from advice services who may offer those in need further support, such as checking benefit entitlement or offering financial advice.
• Any support with the aim of providing longer-term and sustainable solutions. This could include, but is not limited to:
o assistance with and/or access to affordable food such as subsidised food pantries and community kitchens
o provision of cooking lessons with an emphasis on cost-effective methods

2 Process for preparing the 2025/26 delivery plan
As in previous years, the DWP’s focus on food, energy and household essentials means that the Council can draw on the support of a number of community-based organisations that are working closely with those vulnerable households in the most need.

The Council already works closely with these partners via the Facing Hardship multi-agency group that aims to reduce the impacts of poverty and stigma through a collective approach to supporting communities. Members include; Citizen Advice, Caring for Communities and People (CCP), Maggies, Feed Cheltenham (YMCA), Cheltenham Housing Aid Centre (CHAC), Jobcentre Plus (DWP), Aspire Children’s Centres, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Hospitals and the Council. The group is chaired by a representative from Citizens Advice.

Initial engagement regarding the 2025/26 HSF took place at the Facing Hardship group on 15 May to capture partners thoughts. It was agreed that potential delivery partners would be encouraged to submit an expression of interest form setting out what they could deliver, to how many people and at what cost.
The completed expressions of interest were reviewed at a follow up session Facing Hardship group on 5 June – the proposed allocation was then shared with the Council’s Leadership Team.

If the plan is approved by the Cabinet member for Safety and Communities, a delivery plan will be submitted to GCC for sign-off.

3 Proposals for 2025/26 delivery

The full proposals are set out in appendix A – but summarised below.

In terms of food support, it is proposed that a total of £80,375 is allocated to 9 community food providers. The providers include the six community food pantries in Cheltenham; Springbank, West Cheltenham, Cornerstone, CCP, Lakeside and School House Café; the Cheltenham Food Bank and Open Door. We will also work with #FeedCheltenham to provide supermarket food vouchers. The contribution of £80,375 will enable 2,795 food support awards to be made.

In terms of needs – providers have set out how demand continues to rise – Springbank’s demand has grown by over 40% in the past 12 months. Many of their members are working households, disabled individuals, or single parents struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising inflation, housing costs, and stagnating wages.

Cornerstone Pantry in Oakley has been running for 4.5 years, note that with the continuing rise to the cost of living, they have had many new sign-ups, with people who have never used the community centre before coming through their doors for help with food, and other issues they are facing e.g. debt, housing, short-term cash flow challenges caused by unexpected expenditure (e.g. domestic appliance breakdown, start of school term).

Open Door provides a safe and warm, welcoming environment to people experiencing homelessness, housing issues, addiction, mental health issues, challenging situations and isolation in and around Cheltenham. They provide a two course lunch Mon-Thurs for up to 100 people and cooked breakfast on Sundays for around 60.

In a survey of members of West Cheltenham Pantry, which had 56 responses; mental health and budgeting difficulties were the main reasons for joining the pantry. 80% of the respondents stated that it would be a struggle for them to eat without use of the pantry.

Across the network of pantries, the host organisations are still using their own financial resources to remain stocked with high-quality, nutritious food and household items.

In terms of energy support, it is proposed that a total of £42,500 is allocated to two providers; Springbank and Citizens Advice to provide emergency support for people struggling with bills.
Springbank will provide short-term fuel support for individuals identified through their pantry and outreach programmes. These interventions are swift, non-judgemental, and life-saving in some cases – particularly for older adults, young families, and those with long-term health conditions. They note that fuel poverty remains one of the most urgent challenges in their community with rising energy prices having pushed more households into crisis, with many people unable to afford to heat their homes, cook food, or charge medical equipment. Via a contribution of £12,500 to Springbank, an estimated 100 people will be supported.

Citizens Advice will offer grants to those in need to include support for energy costs and water bills as well as insulation and energy efficient one-off costs. The payments only given once all other advice options are exhausted. Via a contribution of £30,000, an estimated 120 people will be supported.
The Council and its partners will also have access to support from Severn Wye Energy Agency, who are in receipt of £400k via GCC’s allocation of their HSF.

In terms of household essentials, it is proposed that a total of £25,000 is allocated to three providers; Springbank, Aspire Foundation and the Council – for two projects.

Springbank note that many of the individuals and families they support are living without the most basic domestic items, such as cookers, fridges, beds, or tables and chairs. This is especially common among those transitioning from temporary accommodation, leaving abusive relationships, or living on very low incomes. Lack of white goods and essential furniture contributes to poor health, hygiene, and mental wellbeing. Via a grant of £5,000, they will supply key household items to 50 individuals and families most in need, assessed through our existing referral and outreach network.

The Aspire Foundation (Cheltenham Children’s Centres) will address the urgent need for crisis support among vulnerable families with children under the age of 11 who are struggling to afford basic household essentials. They state that many of those they work with face financial hardship due to rising living costs, insecure employment, and unexpected life events, leaving them unable to provide adequate food, heating, clothing, and other necessities for their children. Their support aims to alleviate immediate hardship, promote stability, and protect the health and well-being of young children by ensuring access to essential items that every household needs to function with dignity and security. Via a total contribution of £15,000, an estimated 150 people will be supported.

In addition, it is proposed that an allocation of £5,000 is made to the Council to bolster its school uniform project which is delivered by the Benefits and Money Advice Team, plus a further £5,000 to support the Help2 project that provides essential household items such as white goods, carpets and furniture using an e-voucher system.

In terms of advice provision, it is proposed that a total of £70,000 is allocated to three providers; Cheltenham Foodbank, Cheltenham Housing Aid Centre and the Council’s Benefits and Money Advice Service.

Cheltenham Foodbank will use £20,000 of the funding to secure additional capacity from Citizens Advice who will supply generalist and debt advisors on site. In the year 24/25 the advice provision achieved £258,000 in income gains for clients accessing the foodbank and £86,687 of debt written off.

The Council’s Benefits and Money Advice Service will use £25,000 of funding to enhance their service to residents, specifically targeting those who require home visits which are not currently provide by Citizens Advice.

Cheltenham Housing Aid Centre note that their work helps to prevent poverty and builds local resilience which prevents vulnerable households from falling into crisis. They work in partnership with a network of other support, housing and general advice providers to ensure that a joined-up provision is provided to all of their clients. It is proposed that CHAC are allocated £25,000 from the fund.

In terms of preventative support, it is proposed that a total of £18,440 is allocated to two providers; Springbank and YMCA Cheltenham with a third provider yet to be identified.

Via an allocation of £10,000, Springbank will continue to deliver their Early Intervention Programme that works with pantry members to build independence, improve financial literacy, and reduce reliance on emergency aid. It includes:
• Budgeting support and money management advice
• Cooking on a budget workshops
• Support accessing benefits, grants and debt advice
• Skills-building sessions to increase employability
• Digital inclusion support for managing finances online

The programme, which previously received a grant of £10,000 in the Q4 2024/25, has already demonstrated measurable impact in reducing food bank dependency and increasing personal resilience.

Via an allocation of £6,000, FeedCheltenham (YMCA) will deliver life skills courses and dentistry support via their Community Connect programme. The life skills courses complement FeedCheltenham’s food support programme, via supporting individuals and households to increase resilience through one to one and group work – cooking, budgeting, life skills, and referrals to other providers who can support needs.

In terms of the dentistry project, according to GCC statistics, Cheltenham was the area with the highest rate of tooth decay in year six children in Gloucestershire in 2023. The proposal to provide regular free toothbrushes and toothpaste, as well as brushing advice, will support better dental health care in the town. Many people who are facing hardship are not able to budget for dental care, and this is then ‘put off’ until a later date. The project will be delivered via the community food pantries.

It is also proposed that a sum of £2,440 is set aside to support winter related schemes such as children’s coat project and winter fuel allowances. The provider for this is yet to be identified.

Working within the government guidance and within the terms of funding set out by GCC, we have engaged with the partners set out above to assemble the delivery plan and they have agreed to be part of the delivery plan.

Grant agreements will be entered into with the 13 delivery partners that will set out the terms by which the HSF grant is offered.

As set out above, the Council in the main has chosen to work with its community partners as they are the organisations that are working closest with those made vulnerable across Cheltenham.

As an alternative, the Council could have chosen to procure and run its own food and energy voucher schemes. However, this option was dismissed as it would duplicate existing voucher schemes in existence, particularly the GCC voucher scheme and more locally the #FeedCheltenham voucher scheme. Additionally, it would have created a significant draw on staff time to manage the scheme.