Following previous allocations of HSF funding, a further grant has been made available for use in Derbyshire up to 31 March 2025.
The money is provided to us by the Department for Work and Pensions and will be distributed in a variety of ways over the coming months.
Household Support Fund grants
We're using part of the HSF grant funding to increase the scope of the Derbyshire Discretionary Fund (DDF) so we can help more residents.
If you're facing financial hardship, you can apply directly to the DDF for help towards food and energy costs.
Households can access up to 2 awards in a 12-month period. Payments are £65 per household plus an extra £15 for each partner or spouse, and each dependent child.
How to apply
You can apply to receive support from the DDF by calling telephone: 01629 533399.
If you're unable to use a telephone, you can find more information by visiting our DDF page.
When you make an application, we'll take some personal information and then an assessor will contact you to discuss the application in more detail.
The assessor will need to know:
- how a person or family is in crisis and what will happen if help is not quickly made available
- what money and savings might be available or have been applied for
Other things to consider
The DDF can only make an award to someone who is aged 16 or over, and who lives in Derbyshire, and can only make an award to those who can demonstrate how and why they are facing financial hardship.
There is a limited amount of money, and all applications will be assessed on the basis of need, urgency and risk. We'll seek to share information with you about other forms of help and support that are available, which could improve your situation further.
We will also be working with children's service professionals and partners to identify and support vulnerable families with HSF grants directly.
Other support from the Household Support Fund
Grocery vouchers
In January 2025, eligible households were sent a grocery voucher worth £38 per child or young person.
The one-off vouchers were sent to parents and carers of children and young people who met the following criteria between 1 September 2024 and 1 December 2024:
Vouchers were sent predominantly by email, with a smaller number sent by text message where parents or carers do not use email.
If you have not received your voucher and you believe you are eligible, firstly please check your junk email folder.
If you still can't see your voucher, your child's school office may be able to help you quickly access your voucher code as all schools have all been sent copies of each of their eligible pupils' unique voucher code.
If your child is in an early years setting or your school can't help, please fill in our missing voucher reporting form.
Missing food voucher report form
It may take up to 2 weeks for us to respond due to the number of enquiries we receive.
If you plan to approach your school for help, please do not fill in the form until after you've spoken to the school to prevent duplication of work, as this increases our response times.
Support for low-income pensioners and adults receiving home care from February 2025
Over 22,500 eligible Derbyshire households will be contacted to receive one-off voucher to help with energy costs.
Funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, Derbyshire households eligible for the Household Support Fund (HSF) payment are those where at least one resident in the household is either:
- a pensioner (aged over 66) who is entitled to a discount on their council tax (council tax support)
- receiving home care support and is on a low income
Letters containing the voucher, along with instructions on how to claim the payment, will be sent out in the post in phases to eligible households throughout February and early March 2025.
To claim the payment, those who receive the voucher need to take the letter to any Post Office branch before the expiry date shown on the letter, with one of the following forms of identification (ID):
- 2 official letters which include their name and address, such as from a bank or building society, a local council or a utility bill
- valid UK or EU driving licence
- valid passport
Where possible, the recipient named on the letter should collect the payment themselves.
If the recipient is unable to attend a Post Office in person, they can nominate a trusted family member or friend to collect the payment for them. The trusted friend or family member will need to take along a signed note from the recipient giving permission for them to collect the payment, and ID for both the grant recipient and themselves.
Anyone who has not received a letter but believes they qualify for a voucher will be able to contact us after the end of February. Letters are going out in phases in across the county, and we'll not be able to respond to queries until all the letters have been issued.
We'll never contact you unexpectedly to ask for your bank details to enable us to pay this grant, and advise residents to look out for potential scams over the coming months.
Local district and borough councils
District and borough councils have been allocated funds to help with council tax and rent arrears, homelessness and temporary housing where other existing schemes do not apply or are not available.
For more information about available support, please contact your local district or borough council.
Other support available
Funds have also been awarded to local voluntary sector organisations who will work in the community to identify and provide grants to hard-to-reach or isolated pensioners or unpaid carer households who are facing hardship.