Other financial help: the Social Fund

The Social Fund is a special form of welfare benefit provision that is payable for emergency or intermittent needs, in addition to regular payments such as Jobseeker’s Allowance or Income Support. There are two categories of Social Fund:

• the discretionary social fund intended to respond flexibly to meet exceptional and intermittent needs; and

• the regulated fund intended to cover maternity, funeral, winter fuel and heating expenses.

Changes contained in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 mean that certain elements of the discretionary Social Fund scheme will be abolished in April 2013. New locally-based provision will be delivered by local authorities in England and devolved to the governments of Scotland and Wales. The elements affected are detailed below:

Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans

Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans for general living expenses (including rent in advance) will be abolished from April 2013. New local provision will be administered by local authorities in England and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales. They may or may not introduce their own system of assistance — there is no requirement for them to do so.

For more information see the Department for Work and Pensions website at: www.dwp.gov.uk/local-authority-staff/social-fund-reform/.

Crisis Loan Alignment Payments

From April 2013, Crisis Loan Alignment Payments and other Crisis Loans paid due to problems or delays relating to receipt of benefits will be replaced by a new national scheme of Short Term Advances. This will be administered by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Budgeting Loans

Budgeting Loans will continue to be available until Universal Credit is fully rolled out. As people migrate across to Universal Credit they will have access to a new system of Budgeting Advances that will replace Budgeting Loans for Universal Credit recipients.