Children in more than a quarter of local authority areas could go hungry during the upcoming school holidays if the Household Support Fund (HSF) is not extended, charity warns.
A report by End Furniture Poverty found that 44% of the total HSF 2023/24 budget in England was used to provide holiday food vouchers for families in receipt of free school meals (FSM).
Twenty-two councils told the charity they will not continue with FSM vouchers without HSF support, and 20 more said they don’t know/aren’t decided about how it will be funded.
This would mean children in 27% of local authority areas ‘could go hungry in the holidays’, according to the charity. Claire Donovan, head of policy at End Furniture Poverty, said the HSF was a ‘sticking plaster’ but added that it needed to be extended.
Nearly 60% of councils said they would be unable to fund any additional local welfare assistance when the HSF ends next month, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).
