The Welsh Government has agreed to continue the relaxation of the Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) rules until 31 March 2021.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The Discretionary Assistance Fund will continue to help families and individuals with the financial pressures and challenges they are facing. Changes to the fund, were introduced in response to the impact of Coronavirus, on household experiencing hardship early this year.
The extension until the 31 March 2021 will mean those facing hardship as a result of the pandemic can continue to make 5 rather than 3 claims in a 12 month period and the removal of the 28 day claim limit will continue.
The DAF provides grant funding to support people experience extreme hardship and calls on the fund remain at a record high. Since the beginning of the pandemic over £2.4 million has been used to support those who identified Coronavirus as their reason for claiming.
Announcing the continuation of the changes, the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government Hannah Blythyn said:
Coronavirus is still having a dramatic impact on individual and family finances and we still do not know what the full economic impact of the virus will be.
Many of the people whose circumstances have been adversely affected by the impact of Coronavirus are some of the already most vulnerable and the unprecedented nature of the pandemic means it is only right that we continue to support people.
As credit payment holidays and the UK Government Furlough Scheme ends, we will potentially see a further impact on people, pushing them into financial hardship. By extending the relaxations of the DAF until the end of the financial year, we can ensure that everyone who needs support can access it.