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What is it?
The discretionary social fund pays grants and loans to people on benefit. Payments from the social fund come from a fixed local budget and there is no automatic right to payments. The payments made from this fund are:
- Community Care Grants for people with special needs.
- Budgeting Loans
- Crisis Loans
Community care grants are available for people moving out of residential care, to enable a person to remain living in their own home, to help with exceptional pressures on families and to help with certain travel expenses.
Budgeting Loans are available for individuals who need to spread the cost of one-off expensive items such as furniture/household equipment, clothing/footwear, home removal costs and maintenance/improvements. Crisis loans are available to those who have an urgent need due to an emergency or disaster.
Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans must be repaid - they are not an entitlement. You should seek advice if you are considering using these loan schemes.
Can I get it?
Community care grants are available to people claiming Pension Credit, Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based). Budgeting loans are available to people claiming Pension Credit or Income Support/JSA (income-based) for 26 weeks or more. Crisis loans have no specific entitlement conditions but you will have to show you have no other resources.
All types of Social Fund payment are made on a discretionary basis to those thought to be most in need.
How do I claim?
The Social Fund is administered by JobCentre Plus. The application form is available from your local JobCentre Plus office, where someone should be available to help you fill it out. Useful information is also available from the Independent Review Service for the Social Fund. This is the body that reviews decisions about entitlement to the Social Fund and their website provides detailed information on qualification conditions.
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