HELP for North East households struggling with food and energy bills will be extended through the winter months, after councils warned that families faced a “cliff edge”.

The Government confirmed a £421 million extension to the Household Support Fund (HSF) on Monday, retaining the scheme until April 2025.

The pot, given to local councils to distribute to residents in need of support with heating, meals, and essential items, had been due to expire at the end of September.

It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer have faced pressure over Labour’s move to cut the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners, something the Prime Minister insisted will “stabilise the economy”.

Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp, whose authority has previously used the HSF to provide meal vouchers during school holidays and hardship payments for people in serious financial difficulty, welcomed its extension after a recent survey of councils found that nearly 60 per cent would not be able to provide any additional funding themselves if it had been scrapped.

He said: “I’m really pleased the Government has seen fit to extend this important fund that will allow us to continue to support residents during the winter and beyond.

“As a city we’re doing all we can to steer people away from the clutches of poverty and to create an inclusive local economy that is equitable for all our residents, but clearly, we can’t shoulder the entire burden on our own.

“We’ve helped people access millions of pounds in unclaimed support, prevented thousands of homelessness cases, and worked to establish a network of real living wage employers across the city. There are, however, many families who continue to face real hardship and it’s essential that we work together as we are, nationally and locally, to support them in any way we can.”

A Local Government Association (LGA) survey published last month found that 94 per cent of councils wanted the HSF to continue and 84 per cent expected demand for welfare assistance to increase over the winter, with the body warning that households were “approaching another cliff edge”.

Pete Marland, chair of the LGA’s Economy and Resources Board, said on Monday that the extension was “very positive”, but that the Government should produce a “long-term plan for local welfare support, which shifts away from short term, crisis support so councils can instead invest in preventative services that address the underlying causes of poverty”.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said that pensioners and others struggling to heat their homes or afford other essential items over the colder months should contact their local council to see what support may be available to them.

Ms Reeves added: “The £22 billion blackhole inherited from the previous governments means we have to take tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy. But extending the Household Support Fund is the right thing to do – provide targeted support for those who need it most as we head into the winter months.”

However, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson hit out at the cuts to winter fuel allowance, worth between £100 and £300 a year, which will no longer be given to around 10 million pensioners who are not receiving pension credit.  

The Tory councillor, who said around 70,000 older people in Northumberland could be affected, said he was “extremely worried”.

He added:  “If the price of fuel increases this winter as some predict then the implications are very worrying, but we as a Council, along with our partners, are doing all we can to help.

“We’re being pro-active – we knew we had to take action immediately and I’d like to thank all the staff who have worked so hard already to find out who may be eligible for pension credit and therefore winter fuel – and getting in touch with them direct.”