Freedom of information response

1. Could you please provide details of how the Household Support Fund was administered for 2021/2022 at Thurrock Council, including (if available):

• The breakdown of the proposed and/or actual spend of the Government allocation of the Household Support Fund.
• Any eligibility criteria for allocations made using Household Support Funds.
• Any application forms for allocations made using Household Support Funds.
• Any internal reports or policies concerning the use of the Household Support Fund.

The table below shows both the budget and actual for the Household Support Fund October 2021 to March 2022.

Thurrock has used the funding to provide support where needed to those already eligible for either:

• Free School Meals
• Essential Living Fund

Funds will be added to these supporting programmes for those eligible.

E-Vouchers are issued to eligible parents for Free School Meals.

There is no new application process

2. It may be the case that you have not yet developed a policy for the Household Support Fund Extension (April to September). However, if this is the case, could you please provide:

• Details of your plans for administering the Household Support Fund Extension.
• The breakdown of the proposed spend of the Household Support Fund extension.
• Any eligibility criteria for allocations made using the Household Support Fund extension.
• Any application forms for allocations made using the Household Support Fund extension.
• Any internal reports or policies concerning the use of the Household Support Fund extension.

At this stage, due to the Local Elections, no decision has been made on the use of funds from April to September.

You are free to use any information supplied to you for your own use, including non-commercial research purposes. However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright owner.

Where the copyright is owned by Thurrock Council, you must apply to the Council to re-use the information. Please email information.matters@thurrock.gov.uk if you wish to re-use the information you have been supplied. For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation, you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which the council have managed your FOI request you can pursue an Internal Review by contacting us using the above email address. Your request will be considered by a senior member of the Information Management Team who will update you with the outcome of the review.

If you remain unhappy following the outcome of your Internal Review you may wish to refer your case to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and details of this organisation can be found at www.ico.org.uk . Please be advised that the ICO will not consider your case until they have confirmation that you have already been through the Internal Review stage with the council.