The reality of the household support squeeze
How to do more with less
The financial squeeze facing households is a widespread reality for people across the UK. While you might hear on the news that inflation is slowing down, the reality on the ground feels very different. Prices for everyday essentials remain stuck at painful highs, and millions of households continue to feel the squeeze as wages struggle to keep pace with inflation. Research shows that a quarter of UK households now regularly dip into their savings to bridge the gap between their income and the cost of essential goods and services.
At the same time, demand for emergency assistance is soaring. In the first six months of 2024 alone, Citizens Advice supported over 50,000 people with localised social welfare issues. That is 17,200 more than the exact same period the previous year, and double the numbers seen in early 2022.
With communities needing help more than ever, we wanted to understand the challenges local authorities and housing providers are up against. So, we decided to dig into the data ourselves.
What we found out from Prezzee’s FOI request
We submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to local authorities in the most deprived areas of the UK to look at the state of household support provision. The findings were stark.
Our research reveals that combined funding allocated to Local Welfare Provision and Household Support Funds has fallen by 21% over the past two years.
Housing associations and local councils are facing a mountain of pressure to support residents in financial hardship, all while the pot of money available to them is actively shrinking. When budgets tighten to this degree, every single pound needs to go further. It is a classic case of being asked to do more with less.
Smarter support in action: The Hafod success story
So, how do public sector organisations bridge this gap? The answer lies in moving away from old, slow, and expensive administrative processes and embracing a smarter, digital-first approach.
We recently partnered with Hafod, a leading housing provider in South Wales, for their Christmas Kindness campaign. Historically, distributing vital financial support involved manual voucher procurement, physical distribution, and endless paperwork. It was a process that swallowed up nearly 100 hours of staff time.
By switching to Prezzee’s instant-delivery digital system, Hafod completely transformed their approach. The results speak for themselves:
- 90% Administrative Time Saved: Staff time spent managing the campaign plummeted from 100 hours down to just 11.7 hours. That is 11 working days of administrative labour handed back to the team.
- 85% Cost Reduction: Colleague-related operational costs dropped from £1,912 to just £241. Every penny saved on admin is money that can go straight back into frontline community support.
- Complete Visibility: Instead of worrying about lost or stolen paper vouchers, Hafod used a real-time central dashboard to track exactly when rewards were delivered and redeemed.
Most importantly, the shift gave residents back their dignity. Instead of a restrictive, impersonal gift card, recipients received a digital voucher via their phones, giving them the flexibility to choose what they needed from a range of brands. To ensure public funds were spent responsibly, the platform was tailored to automatically exclude restricted items like alcohol, tobacco, and gambling.
Reflecting on Procurex
We recently took these exact insights to Procurex, where the conversation around how welfare support is delivered felt more critical than ever. The Household Support Fund continues to play a vital role in helping local authorities reach residents in genuine need, but the event made one thing clear - we have to find ways to reduce unnecessary administration, protect public funds, and ensure help reaches people as soon as possible when they need it.
It was fantastic connecting with so many people at our stand to discuss how moving away from physical vouchers and manual processes makes a tangible difference. Transitioning to instant, trackable digital delivery allows for smart spending restrictions, the ability to reclaim unspent funds, and a complete audit trail from issue to redemption.
For more information about using digital gifts to deliver within the public sector contact Prezzee.