'If Household Support Fund ends, I'll switch everything off'

The Household Support Fund is due to finish at the end of March

A former handyman has said he will stop using all energy in his home when the government's Household Support Fund is withdrawn.

The man from Norwich, who asked to remain anonymous, said he could only run appliances thanks to the £50 top-up on his fuel card through the scheme.

The programme was brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic, but is due to finish at the end of March.

"If the money stops, everything would be turned off," the man said.

Norfolk County Council has received £33m from the government since the scheme began

The Household Support Fund was introduced in October 2021 and the money can be used to help with energy, water bills, food and essential items.

Funding has been extended several times but is due to end on 31 March.

The anonymous 63-year-old said he did not use lights or heating in his house and washed his clothes with rainwater in buckets in the garden.

"I'm still very careful in what I do and what I spend; you don't know what's around the corner," he said.

"If anything was to go wrong where your benefits [are] stopped, I would shut down again and I would cope as I'm used to it."

Andrew Jamieson, the council's cabinet member for finance, says the authority will continue supporting parents who are eligible for free school meals over the Easter holidays

Norfolk County Council has been given £33m since the scheme began and says it has been lobbying Westminster to extend the scheme.

Andrew Jamieson, the county council's Conservative cabinet member for finance, said the authority would continue supporting parents who were eligible for free school meals over the Easter holidays.

"I can see how the effect is on some of the most vulnerable children," he said.

In Suffolk, more than £10m has been distributed to households by local councils and voluntary agencies as part of the fund.

Nicky Willshere, chief executive officer at Citizens Advice Ipswich, said: "Without this fund, families will not be living on empty, they will simply sink to levels not seen before."

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said it had invested more than £2bn in the Household Support Fund over the last few years.

They added they will continue to keep all existing programmes and cost-of-living measures under review.