Hammersmith and Fulham Council has been lauded for its comprehensive cost of living support programme, with a total investment of £9.55 million between 2022 and 2025.
The Policy and Oversight Board heard that the investment included £8.5 million from the Household Support Fund (HSF). In 2024/25 alone, the council delivered 76,000 awards of help to residents across the borough. These awards included referrals, direct help, information and advice.
The council's approach to tackling the cost of living crisis has been based on four key pillars:
- Building a strong alliance of partners across the borough
- Delivering hardship relief to those most in need
- Providing universal access to advice and guidance
- Strengthening links to longer-term anti-poverty strategies.
To determine who is most in need and receives hardship relief, the council provides targeted support to families, single person households, disabled residents, pensioners, the care experienced, homeless households and households just about managing. The Hardship Prevention Fund beneficiaries are single, 1-3 child family and disabled households claiming benefits.
The council is also strengthening links to longer-term strategies addressing fuel poverty, food insecurity, and financial inclusion.
The Cost of Living (COL) Alliance has been instrumental in delivering the programme's outcomes. Local charities and community organisations receive grants to provide direct help. For example, in 2024/25, the Winter Support Fund provided 63 grants to VCS organizations, supporting 5,700 recipients across 3,500 households. Since January 2023, a steering group has convened regularly to share resources, provide strategic advice and support the implementation of schemes. The alliance has hosted seven COL-focused conferences and workshops, with an eighth planned for later in the year. The steering group has also played a key role in shaping the upcoming H&F Community Compass, a digital directory of local support services.
The council's efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) undertook a HSF monitoring visit, concluding:
Compassion is at the heart of (H&Fs) approach…Those involved in delivery were passionate about using the fund to provide the right help for those who needed it, in a well-rounded and thoughtthrough way…
Looking ahead, the council plans to continue its support for residents facing financial hardship. For 2025/26, a total of £2.7 million has been allocated to fund approximately 15 targeted schemes. Given the limited resources, the programme will concentrate on fewer, high-impact initiatives across three core areas: community support, hardship relief and preventative support. These high-impact initiatives planned for 2025/26 will focus on:
- Community Support: Continued funding for the COL Advice Team, enhanced communications and outreach, and grants to community organizations.
- Hardship Relief: Targeted financial assistance and support for services facing increased demand for resident support.
- Preventative Support: Ongoing investment in homelessness prevention and support for strategic initiatives such as the Fuel Poverty Strategy, Food Action Plan, and the development of a Financial Inclusion Strategy.
The council is also preparing for upcoming national policy changes, particularly the planned replacement of the HSF with the Crisis and Resilience Fund from April 2026, which is expected to provide more sustainable, multi-year funding for local crisis support.
