The Essential Living Fund (ELF) is a

local welfare assistance scheme Local welfare assistance schemes are a feature of the British welfare system following the abolition of the discretionary element of the Social Fund. LWAS replaced crisis loans and community care grants which were to elements of the Social Fund. An ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

that was introduced in April 2013 following the abolition of the discretionary element of the Social Fund. It replaces two discretionary elements of the

Social Fund A social fund (sometimes also called ''Social Investment Fund'', ''Social Fund for Development'', ''Social Action Fund'', ''National Solidarity Fund'' or ''Social Development Agency'') is an institution, typically in a developing country, that prov ...

- crisis loans and community care grants. Under the old system these payments were administered by the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

but ELFs are now administered by

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-lo ...

. According to Citizens Advice literature ELFs are "designed to ease exceptional pressure on people and their families". However, these benefits are not in the form of currency and are distributed using indirect methods such as: Use of food vouchers or supermarket vouchers, use of AllPay cards, provision of recycled furniture from reputable charity, and provision of white goods from a reputable local dealer.http://www.uttlesfordcab.org.uk/FreshFiles/Essential%20Living%20Fund.pdf These indirect methods reduce the control participating individuals have over what they buy. The scheme can cover fields such as: *furniture - bed, settee, armchair, wardrobe, table *furnishings - carpets, curtains, bedding *white goods - cookers, fridge, washing machines *household equipment - crockery, cutlery, bedding *clothing and footwear *general living expenses - these are day to day living expenses such as groceries, nappies, toiletries, cleaning/hygiene products, money for pay as you go fuel meters. If you are awarded the grant you will not be paid in cash or into a bank account. Instead it will be: *food or supermarket vouchers *AllPay cards *high quality recycled furniture from reputable charity *white goods from a reputable local dealer.

References

{{Social Fund in the United Kingdom Social security in the United Kingdom Social Fund (UK)