Local authorities failed to pay out more than £20m to people affected by welfare reforms, according to figures released by the Government.
The figures shows that around two-thirds (63%) of councils paid out less than their total Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) allocation to tenants, with three-quarters of councils not applying for a £20m government top up fund.
Minister for welfare reform, Lord Freud, said: 'We tripled support for vulnerable people to £180m last year to ensure the right help was in place during our far-reaching welfare reforms and it is good to see that people have benefited from that support as they adapt to the changes.
'Today’s figures also show that recent scare stories about councils running out of money were grossly exaggerated. We urge people who may need additional help to contact their local authority.'
The figures also show that at the end of the financial year, 240 out of 380 local authorities underspent their DHP funding and almost one in ten spent less than 60% of their total DHP allocation.
