AQW 13773/22-27

Ms Sian Mulholland
Alliance Party
North Antrim

Tabled Date: 24/06/2024
Answered On Date: 08/07/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities whether there has been any engagement with the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to the implementation of the Household Support Fund for families in Northern Ireland.

Answer:

My Department provided advice to the Department for Work and Pensions when establishing their Household Support Fund which they closely aligned to our unique Northern Ireland Discretionary Support Scheme.

To sustain Discretionary Support and ensure Northern Ireland citizens continue to receive this valuable support, my Department submitted a bid for an additional £12.7m Resource in 2024-25 to increase the Discretionary Support (DS) Grants historic Baseline funding of £13.7m to a total of £26.4m in 2024-25.

My Department was allocated a general allocation of £13m against total Resource bids of £128.8m and received no specific allocation for Discretionary Support.

To help ensure this support remains available throughout this financial year, I have increased the initial Budget allocation for Discretionary Support Grants to £22m for 2024-25.