The Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) offers two types of grant. Individual Assistance Payments (IAP) help people live independently in their home or a property that they are moving into. Emergency Assistance Payments (EAP) help pay for essential costs, such as food, gas, electricity, clothing or emergency travel.

The DAF monitoring data was analysed to consider who are the recipients of DAF in terms of age and ways of accessing them. The report also considers the DAF awards across all Welsh local authorities alongside economic indicators to identify any emerging patterns that might explain the number of awards in each local authority.

Main findings

• Between May 2024 and April 2025, 95% of the total number of DAF awards were EAPs and the remaining 5% were IAPs.
• During the same period, 175,000 EAP awards were given to individuals while 9,000 awards were given as IAP awards. This is £5m less EAP awards and £4m less IAP awards compared to the same period a year earlier.
• Younger individuals, aged 16 to 39, made over 60% of the total EAP applications. In comparison, those aged 50 or over made a larger proportion of IAP applications than EAP.
• The four local authorities with the highest number of EAP awards per capita in 2024-25 were Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Rhondda Cynon Taf.