Household Support Fund

From June 2025 to March 2026, the Department of Work and Pensions is providing funding through the Household Support Fund. We will use this funding to support low income households with the rising cost of living, including energy, food and essential bills.

We are distributing the Household Support Fund in the following ways.

Application based support

The Local Welfare Scheme will be enhanced to enable Bracknell Forest residents in financial hardship who would not otherwise automatically qualify for support to apply. If you are eligible, there are 2 ways that you can apply:

1. Main Local Welfare Scheme – this is based on our existing assessment criteria and will include a financial assessment of your income and assets. 

   Read about and apply for our Local Welfare Scheme

2. Cost of Living Payment Scheme – for low-income families not eligible for the school distributed vouchers.

Cost of Living Payment Scheme

You could be eligible for a one-off £105 payment per child.

To apply, you must be in receipt of qualifying benefits and your child must meet one of the following criteria:

• child is under 5 years old in an early years setting
• child is 16 to 18 years old in full time education
• young person is aged 16 to 25 years old in full time education with an Education, Health and Care plan
• child is home educated
• child attends an out of borough school where they are not eligible for equivalent support from their education authority

A maximum of one £105 payment per child will be awarded during the period June 2025 to 31 August 2025. The scheme will then be reviewed ahead of the autumn term.

All awards offered under the Local Welfare Scheme route, including the Cost of Living Payment Scheme, are limited to available funding. 

Therefore, we may close applications at any point during the period June 2025 to 31 March 2026, if the full Household Support Fund grant has been distributed.

Cost of living vouchers for households in receipt of free school meals

Children in Bracknell Forest schools registered for free school meals will get supermarket vouchers. These will be automatically distributed through schools.

Policy