Alert close - icon Fill 1 Copy 10 Untitled-1 tt copy 3 Untitled-1 Untitled-1 tt copy 3 Fill 1 Copy 10 menu Group 3 Group 3 Copy 3 Group 3 Copy Page 1 Group 2 Group 2 Skip to content

Household support fund

The household support fund (HSF) offers help to Derbyshire residents facing financial hardship by providing grants and other financial support. The fund is provided to us by the Department of Work and Pensions.


Following previous allocations of HSF funding, a further grant has been made available for use in Derbyshire up to 31 March 2024.

The fund will be distributed in a variety of ways over the coming months.

Household support fund grants

We are using part of the Household Support Grant funding to increase the scope of the Derbyshire Discretionary Fund so we can help more residents.

Households facing financial hardship can apply directly to the Derbyshire Discretionary Fund for help towards their food, and energy costs.

Households can access up to 3 awards in a 12-month period.

Payments are £64 per household plus an extra £20 will be provided for a partner or spouse, and each dependent child aged under 19.

How to apply

Residents can apply to receive support from the Derbyshire Discretionary Fund by phone, tel: 01629 533399.

When an application is made, we will take some personal information during the call and then an assessor will phone back 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 bear in mind

We can only make an award to someone who is over 16, and who lives in Derbyshire.

We can only make an award to those who can demonstrate how and why they are facing financial hardship.

We have 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 applicants about other forms of help and support that are available, which could improve their situation further.

We will also be working with children's service professionals and partners to identify and support vulnerable families with household support fund grants directly.

Support for low income pensioners and adults receiving home care from December 2023

Twenty-three thousand eligible Derbyshire households have been sent a one-off voucher to help with energy costs worth £140.

The voucher, from the government's household support fund, needs to be exchanged at a Post Office for cash and is to help alleviate the pressure on the finances of the county's most vulnerable residents.

Funded by the Department for Work and Pensions, Derbyshire households eligible for the £140 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

We've sent the vouchers out by post in phases over the last few weeks and all vouchers have now been distributed. 

To claim the payment, those who receive the voucher need to take the letter along with one of the following forms of identification (ID) to any Post Office branch, before the expiry date shown on the letter:

  • 2 official letters which include name and address, such as letters from the bank, building society, 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, it's recommended that they 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.

We'll never contact you out of the blue to ask for your bank details to enable us to pay this grant and would advise residents to be on the lookout for potential scams over the coming months.

Other support from the household support fund

Grocery vouchers for families with children and care leavers

The Household Support Fund was used to send grocery vouchers to eligible households. A voucher worth £45 per child was sent in June 2023, followed by a further voucher worth £36 in January 2024.

The vouchers were sent to:

This section of the Household Support Fund is now closed and all un-redeemed voucher codes have expired.

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.

Please contact your local district or borough council about any support available.

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 pensioner or unpaid carer households who are facing hardship.

You can find more information about support available locally on the cost of living. The government website has also got information about the help that is available to households and cost of living support.