Funded by the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the UK government, the Household Support Fund scheme supports vulnerable Kent households in need of help with significantly rising living costs.
HSF (Household Support Fund) Round 4 has now ended, and the Government has announced in the last budget, a further six-month extension to the HSF, meaning HSF Round 5 will run from April until October 2024.
The next scheme will be delivered by KCC from June to September and will offer an online public application route that enables individual self-referral, or professional referrals on behalf of individuals, to be made.
Food and Energy Support Scheme
The scheme will offer energy and/or food support, with applicants able to choose between energy, food, or a 60/40 combination of both energy and food support.
The scheme will open for online applications from 12pm Tuesday 11 June 2024.
The scheme will close on 12pm Wed 4 September 2024, but may close earlier if all the available HSF funds are allocated, therefore early application is advised.
If successful, applicants selecting energy support will be provided in the following way depending on their bill payment method:
£100 (or £40 if combining with food voucher) virtual energy card* to be used to pay directly to energy providers for electricity, gas, or water bills. Energy providers including British Gas, EDF, Eon, Bulb, Octopus and many more.
*This card is issued by GVS Prepaid Ltd, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated
All applicants receiving a virtual energy card will need to complete the card registration and activation process, this will require online access and those without internet access will require professional referrer assistance, or they can access their local gateway service.
Applicants on a pre-payment meter, required to top up in-store using a key or card, will receive either a PayPoint or PayZone energy voucher which can be redeemed at their local kiosk.
Applicants opting for food vouchers will be able to choose a retailer from a list of selected retailers during the application process.
Those applicants selecting a split Energy/Food award option will receive £40 of energy support via one of the routes previously indicated and a supermarket Food Voucher to the value of £60.
There is a limited amount of funding available for this scheme and funds will be distributed on a first come, first served basis, with only one award per household.
Who is eligible?
There is an expectation for professionals making the referral to complete due diligence checks of applications to ensure that beneficiaries meet the eligibility criteria as set out below:
Professional referrers will need to check applicant residency and confirm energy payment method, if you are unsure of the client’s energy payment method please select food voucher support instead of energy.
All applicants that self-refer will be required to upload evidence when completing the form to prove that they are the energy bill payer for the household (only if requesting energy support), and a Kent resident, within an eligible Kent district, at the point of application.
Applicants must:
- be aged 16 or over
- be a Kent resident, permanently living within one of the 12 local authorities covered by Kent County Council (this excludes Medway, Bromley, and Bexley)
- have a household income less than £40,000 per annum (£3,334 per month) before tax (including any means tested benefits)
- not have savings above £1000
- *not be receiving free school meal support within their household
*Free School Meal eligible families will receive a food voucher for each eligible child via their child’s school outside of this scheme.
Residents with no recourse to public funding are still eligible for the scheme. If a National Insurance number is not available, please email kcc-hsffoodandenergysupport@kent.gov.uk with circumstances and reasons why the applicant should receive this support (please attach all supporting evidence to the email).
Application link:
Applications for support with the increase in cost of living can be made to the Household Support Fund via the following link:
Household Support Fund – Kent County Council
Processing timescales
We do aim to send the relevant Energy (virtual) cards and Food vouchers out as quickly as possible, usually within 10 working days of a successful application being made, however we anticipate there will initially be high demand for support, and this could impact on timescales. The applicant and referrer (if applicable) will receive email confirmation of the application outcome.
Future Communications
Please feel free to share this information with your own professional networks, or pass on the subscription link, https://forms.office.com/e/2aKaNrjwBi, to our HSF communications mailing list to receive the latest news and updates on the scheme.
Additional Queries
Any additional queries can be directed to kcc-hsffoodandenergysupport@kent.gov.uk or via our direct contact number 03000 412424
