Flexible Support Fund: how Jobcentre Plus can pay for travel, work clothes and tools to get you into a job

The Flexible Support Fund (FSF) is money that Jobcentre Plus and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can give to people on benefits to help them move into work or training. It is a grant, not a loan, so there is nothing to pay back. Official DWP guidance states that “FSF awards are discretionary, aimed at improving a claimant’s job prospects and are subject to eligibility.”

What is the Flexible Support Fund?

It is a local budget your work coach can use to pay for specific things that are stopping you getting a job. The guidance describes it as “a locally managed budget to supplement existing services and tailor support to the needs of individuals in the local area.” Because the decision sits with the work coach, it is help at the Jobcentre’s discretion, not an automatic entitlement.

What can the money be used for?

Most often it covers costs that act as a barrier between you and a job. GOV.UK guidance says the fund “can be used to address barriers to employment, such as travel expenses to attend interviews and tools and clothing/uniform to start work.” According to DWP guidance, that can include:

• travel to interviews and in the first weeks of a new job;
• “smart clothing for interviews or to start work”;
• “essential tools and equipment - for example, chef’s knives”;
• a training or course fee where it moves you closer to work;
• childcare while you train, or in the gap between starting a job and your first wage.

It will not pay for protective safety wear — that is the employer’s legal duty to provide.

How much is paid for travel?

If you drive your own car, the guidance sets the rate at “25 pence per mile by the most direct route.” People in the Intensive Work Search regime can also have travel refunded for extra appointments — for every alternate weekly Work Search Review during the first 13 weeks after being placed in that regime. The exact amount is set by the work coach, based on the cheapest reasonable way to travel.

How do you ask for help from the fund?

There is no application form to fill in — it is your Jobcentre Plus work coach who decides. Tell them exactly what is holding you back from starting work: the cost of getting to an interview, work shoes, tools, a course, or childcare while you job-search. The work coach will assess your situation and decide whether to award the money. Because it is discretionary there is no guarantee, but it is worth asking if you claim Universal Credit and are looking for work. The fund is not given to clear debts, loans or everyday bills. For more, see the government’s update on supporting Universal Credit claimants (GOV.UK) and the DWP’s Flexible Support Fund guidance (DWP guidance). Enrolment and payment are handled by the Jobcentre, not by ONLYWAY NEWS.