Residents applying for financial help from a Devon council’s hardship fund are most likely to need help buying food, it has been revealed.
Out of the 772 applications to East Devon District Council’s Household Support Fund (HSF), 649 people said they could not afford to buy things to eat.
The council said it allocated more than £89,000 to households in the 2024/25 financial year that said they could not afford food, with another 78 people asking for help with energy and water bills, equating to more than £4,700 in support.
The cash is part of a larger pot the council allocates to its most vulnerable residents, including those with disabilities, households with a carer, those with a care leaver in the home, or households including former service personnel.
Of the total £704,000 it had to spend, it apportioned nearly £610,000 directly to around 3,280 households to help support them financially with the rest of the money being made open for applications..
This included a financial boost to households that lost the winter fuel allowance.
East Devon’s poverty working panel heard that the latest HSF from government was £453,000 for East Devon, which it would be issuing to households soon.
Furthermore, the council said it was working with more than 4,000 pensioners to make sure they were applying for all the benefits they were entitled to. This has risen from around 3,450 between April and November last year.
The Household Support Fund cash is allocated to councils by government, however, it is set to be replaced by the Crisis Resilience Fund in April 2026.
However, the panel heard the government would be wanting to see “tangible outcomes” as a result of the new funding, such as reduced use of food banks in the area.
The poverty working panel also heard that while the household support team at East Devon was only three-strong now, it was hoping to fill the vacancy left by a fourth member.
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