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SOCIAL FUND
updated 08/04/08

The social fund is a government fund that makes payments to people in need. It is divided into two parts:

  • Regulated Social Fund:
    • This provides Sure Start maternity grants, funeral payments, cold weather payments and winter fuel payments. You are legally entitled to a payment if you satisfy the regulations. You can appeal against decisions to a tribunal.
  • Discretionary Social Fund:
    • This provides grants and loans to meet a variety of other needs. Payments are discretionary and budget-limited and decisions are subject to review rather than appeal.

REGULATED SOCIAL FUND

Sure Start Maternity Grants

You are entitled to a Sure Start maternity grant of £500 for each child if:

  • You (or a member of your family) are pregnant, or have given birth in the last 3 months (including stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy), or have adopted a child under the age of one, or have been granted a parental order for a child born to a surrogate mother; and
  • You have been awarded one of the following qualifying benefits in respect of the day you claim a maternity grant: income support, pension credit, income-based jobseeker's allowance, child tax credit paid at a rate which exceeds the family element or working tax credit which includes the disability or severe disability element; and
  • You have received health and welfare advice about maternal and child health matters; and
  • You claim within the time limits (see below).

HOW DO YOU CLAIM?

Claim on form SF100, which you can get from your local Jobcentre Plus office or antenatal clinic.

You must claim in the 11 weeks before your expected week of confinement, or in the 3 months following the date of the birth, adoption or parental order. If you are waiting for a decision about a qualifying benefit, claim within the time limits and if your claim is refused re-claim within 3 months of being awarded the qualifying benefit. The form must be signed by a health professional (e.g. midwife, health visitor or doctor) to confirm you have received health and welfare advice about having a baby.

FUNERAL PAYMENTS

You are entitled to a funeral payment if:

  • You or your partner accept responsibility for the costs of a funeral (i.e. you have paid or are liable to pay them) that takes place in the UK (or another EEA country) or Switzerland, if you or a member of your family are classified as a 'worker' or have the right to reside in the UK under EC law, and
  • You or your partner have been awarded one of the following 'qualifying benefits' in respect of the day you claim a funeral payment: income support, pension credit, income-based jobseeker's allowance, child tax credit paid at a rate that exceeds the family element, working tax credit that includes the disability or severe disability element, housing benefit or council tax benefit; and
  • The deceased was ordinarily resident in the UK when they died; and
  • You claim within the time limits (see below); and
  • You fall into one of the groups of people who are eligible to claim (see below).

WHO CAN CLAIM?

You can only get a funeral payment if you fall into one of the following groups:

  • You were the partner (Partner includes: both opposite and same-sex couples whether or not you were married or registered civil partners) of the deceased when they died, or before either of you entered a care home.
  • The deceased was a child for whom you were responsible and there is no 'absent parent' (unless they were getting one of the above qualifying benefits when the child died), or the deceased was a stillborn child.
  • You were a 'close relative' or close friend of the deceased and it is reasonable for you to accept responsibility for the funeral costs, given the nature and extent of your contact with the deceased. Close relative means parent (or parent-in-law), son (-in-law), daughter (-in-law), brother (-in-law), sister (-in-law), stepson/daughter (-in-law) or step-parent.

You cannot get a payment as a close relative or friend of the deceased if:

  • the deceased had a partner when they died; or
  • There is a parent, son or daughter of the deceased who is not:
    • Getting a qualifying benefit (see above); or
    • In prison or hospital immediately following a period on a qualifying benefit; or
    • Under 18; or
    • Aged 18 or 19 and is a qualifying young person for child benefit or;
    • Aged 18 or over and in full-time education; or
    • A fully maintained member of a religious order; or
    • Someone who was estranged from the deceased; or
    • Receiving asylum support from the National Asylum Support Services or
    • There is a close relative (see above) of the deceased, other than a child, who was in closer contact with the deceased than you were, or had equally close contact and is not getting a qualifying benefit; or
    • Ordinarily resident outside the UK.

HOW MUCH DO YOU GET?

The following costs can be met:

The necessary costs of purchasing a new burial plot with exclusive rights plus necessary burial fees, or the necessary costs of cremation including medical fees.

The cost of documentation required to release the deceased's assets

The reasonable costs of transport for the portion of journeys in excess of 50 miles, undertaken to transport the body within the UK to a funeral director's premises or a place of rest and to transport the coffin, bearers and mourners in two vehicles to the funeral

The necessary costs of one return journey from your home for you or your partner to arrange or attend the funeral if you are responsible for the funeral costs

Up to £700 for other funeral expenses (or £120 if you have a pre-paid funeral plan which does not cover these expenses).

The following amounts are deducted from an award of a funeral payment (note that a funeral payment is recoverable from the deceased's estate):

  • Any of the deceased's assets that are available to you without probate or letters of administration.
  • Any lump sum due to you on the death of the deceased from an insurance policy, occupational pension, war pension, burial club or similar scheme.
  • Any contribution towards the funeral costs from a charity or relative of yours or the deceased's.
  • Any amount from a pre-paid funeral plan or similar scheme.

Note that any payments from the Macfarlane, variant CJD, Eileen Trusts, the Fund, Skipton Fund or the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund are ignored.

HOW DO YOU CLAIM?

Claim on form SF200 (available from the DWP). You must claim within 3 months of the date of the funeral. If you are waiting for a decision on a qualifying benefit, claim within the time limit and, if your claim is refused because you are not getting a qualifying benefit, re-claim within 3 months of being awarded the qualifying benefit.

COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS

These are automatic payments (you do not need to make a claim) of £8.50 for each qualifying week made by DWP if:

  • The average temperature recorded or forecast over 7 consecutive days by the designated weather station for your area is zero degrees Celsius (freezing) or less; and
  • You have been awarded income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance for at least one of those days and you are responsible for a child under the age of 5, or are getting one of the pensioner or disability premiums; or
  • You have been awarded pension credit for at least one of those days; and
  • You are not resident in a care home.

WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS

This is a lump-sum payment (for the winter 2008/09) if you are aged 60 or over in the week beginning 17 September 2008 (the 'qualifying week').

You are not entitled to a payment if during that week you:

  • Are subject to immigration control or not ordinarily resident in Great Britain and, or
  • Have been receiving free inpatient treatment in hospital (or similar institution) for more than 52 weeks, or
  • Are in custody serving a sentence imposed by a court, or
  • Are getting income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA) or pension credit (PC) and you live in a care home and have been in the home for 13 weeks or more at the end of the qualifying week (disregarding temporary absences).

HOW MUCH DO YOU GET?

Subject to the rules below, the winter fuel payment is £250 if you are aged under 80 in the qualifying week, or £400 if you are aged 80 or over in the qualifying week.

  • If you share accommodation as a mutual home with another person, £250 (if you are both aged under 80), or £400 (if either of you is 80 or over) is paid per household.
  • If you have been living in a care home for at least 12 weeks in the qualifying week and you are not getting income-based JSA or PC, you are entitled to a payment of £100 if you are aged under 80, or £150 if you are aged 80 or over.

HOW DO YOU CLAIM?

You should automatically receive a payment without making a claim if you received a payment last year, or are getting a state pension or other social security benefit (apart from child benefit, housing benefit, or council tax benefit) in the qualifying week. Otherwise you must make a claim before 30/03/09. You can get a claim form and other information by ringing the winter fuel payment helpline on 0845 915 1515.

DISCRETIONARY SOCIAL FUND

  • Community Care Grants - are intended to promote community care by helping people on Income Support (IS), income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) or Pension Credit (PC) to live independently in the community, to ease exceptional pressure on facilities and help with certain travelling expenses.
  • Budgeting Loans - are interest-free loans to help people who have been on IS, income-based JSA or PC for at least 26 weeks to meet intermittent expenses for specifies items for which it may be difficult to budget, enabling the cost to be spread over time.
  • Crisis Loans - are interest free loans for people (on benefit or not) who are unable to meet their immediate short-term needs in an emergency or as a result of a disaster, or, in certain circumstances, for rent in advance.
  • Reviews - You can ask for a review of ant decision made by a decision maker, including the refusal of a payment or the amount awarded. You must do this in writing within 28 days of the date of the decision was issued to you. The time limit can be extended if there are 'special reasons'.

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