Over the last few months, local and national news outlets have reported on the difference the Household Support Fund has made across our city. For the last two and a half years this fund has ensured children are well fed during the school holidays, low-income households can receive support with energy costs, Liverpool’s Citizen Support Scheme can continue to support people in a crisis, families with No Recourse to Public Funds and kinship carers can afford fresh fruit and vegetables and Liverpool’s food support spaces remain able to cope with rising demand.

This was not the time to cut off this lifeline of support.

We welcome the news that the Chancellor has extended the Household Support Fund for a further six months.

Extending the fund will not solve the crisis of poverty in our country, but it will provide temporary respite for hundreds of thousands of households across the UK who are still struggling to regularly make ends meet, or do not have the financial reserves to cope when a crisis hits, such as a broken washing machine, loss of a job, funeral costs or an unexpected bill.

As we look beyond the next six months, what is needed are bold policy decisions that will lift households out of poverty, coupled with a well-funded, reliable and permanent form of crisis support.

Let us hope this is the first step towards loosening the grip of poverty on this country.