Around £65million has yet to be claimed from the Household Support Fund according to official figures.
The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from Creditspring, also revealed that the amount unclaimed exceeded £1million for multiple councils.
Some councils were also found to have several million still to give away.
The Household Support Fund was originally launched in September 2021 and provided local authorities with a cut of a £500million cash pot to help those most in need with the rising cost of living.
Each council was then able to distribute the cash at their discretion to residents in their area with help consisting of things such as vouchers for food and other essentials, bill discounts, and cash grants.
As each individual council is in charge of what they do with the money, what help is available differs between each area, and there are different rules around how to apply.
The current scheme, which was worth £421million, was originally going to close at the end of this month.
However, the Government announced that it was to be extended for the fourth time to help struggling households with the high cost of living.
The extension came with an extra £842million worth of funding.
Before the extension, the Government told the local authorities that any leftover money had to be returned.
With £65million still available to be claimed from the fund, Creditspring says that local councils need to "do more" to advertise the scheme and ensure that vulnerable households know about the help available.
Neil Kadagathur, co-founder and CEO of Creditspring, said: “The Household Support Fund is a vital support package which has simply not been taken full advantage of.
"Councils need to first, do more to ensure the vulnerable households who are reliant on support such as this are aware that they’re eligible and then make the application process much simpler.
“Without improving awareness of support solutions like the Household Support Fund, more households, particularly those in the near-prime segment, will be forced to rely on high cost credit products.
"This risks creating a future credit crisis which will impact the most vulnerable who could say debt spiral out of control. Households urgently need support now before their financial position worsens.”
List of councils with Household Support Funding left:
- Lancashire County Council - £6,085,815
- Essex County Council - £5,296,663 (fully committed for projects)
- Derbyshire County Council - £4,351,200 (expect all of this to be spent by the end of March 2023)
- Surrey County Council - £3,641,148.41
- West Sussex County Council - £3,027,131.11
- Medway Council - £2,867,650
- South Staffordshire - £2,732,953
- Sheffield City Council - £2,146,915
- Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council - £2,049,915
- Bristol City Council - £2,001,492
- London Borough of Southwark - £1,733,524
- Sunderland City Council - £1,679,419
- Warwickshire County Council - £1,657,550
- London Borough of Bexley - £1,542,000 (expected to be fully spent by 31 March 2023)
- Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council - £1,533,000
- Hull City Council - £1,468,093 (allocated to payment schemes)
- Nottingham City Council - £1,390,521
- London Borough of Lambeth - £1,259,768.01
- City of Westminster - £1,258,977
- Portsmouth City Council - £1,152,009
- London Borough of Bromley - £1,011,000
- London Borough of Ealing - £1,029,000
- Cumbria County Council - approx £1million
- Manchester City Council - £994,049
- London Borough of Camden - £967,787
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council - £825,632
- Cheshire West and Chester - £823,627
- Milton Keynes Council - £823,627
- North Tyneside Council - £724,608
- Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - £659,791.73 (some already committed)
- Trafford Council - £644,834.48
- Bedford Borough Council - £623,000
- Northumberland County Council - £609,532
- Central Bedfordshire Council - £582,840
- North Somerset Council - £549,701
- London Borough of Newham - £448,000
- Halton Borough Council - £439,141
- Thurrock Council - £403,701
- Havant District Council - £357,389
- Rother District Council - £320,000 (committed to payments)
- Spelthorne Borough Council - £243,591
- Lancaster City Council - £226,145
- Test Valley Borough Council - £214,840
- Wyre Forest District Council - £202,642
- Cheshire EastApproximately - £200,000
- Preston City Council - £199,396
- Chorley Borough Council - £186,846
- East Lindsey District Council - £181,897
- Wealden District Council - £178,226
- Sevenoaks District Council - £171,615
- Kent County Council - £169,796
- Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames - £150,000
- Teignbridge District Council - £142,634
- East Devon - £138,288
- Hastings Borough Council - £128,880
- Brighton and Hove City Council - £125,406
- London Borough of Croydon - £121,000
- Wigan Metropolitan Borough - £114,663
- Torridge District Council - £104,742
- Ribble Valley Borough Council - £95,950
- Boston Borough Council - £87,460
- Chesterfield Borough Council - £79,054
- Telford & Wrekin Council - £75,000
- Isle of Wight Council - £70,000
- City of London Corporation - £62,574
- West Berkshire Council - £52,799
- Bath & North East Somerset Council - £47,600
- Ipswich Borough Council - £46,354.92
- North Kesteven District Council - £42,078
- Surrey Heath Borough Council - £40,050
- East Hampshire District Council - £39,132
- Great Yarmouth Borough Council - £33,691
- New Forest District Council - £28,504
- South Kesteven - £18,503
- West Oxfordshire - £5,500
- Plymouth City Council - £3,203.82
Councils that report having no funding left
- Calderdale
- Wirral Metropolitan Borough
- Worcestershire County Council
- Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Southampton City Council
- Somerset County Council
- North Devon District Council
- London Borough of Waltham Forest
- Flintshire County Council
- Gloucestershire County Council
- London Borough of Islington
London Borough of Barnet
