Credit unions and other organisations are to be allowed to run the government’s Social Fund, the £680m ($1m) pot of money that provides lifeline loans and some grants to benefit claimants.

In a move that ties in with the government’s intention to increase the involvement of the so-called third sector in public service delivery, Kitty Usher, the junior welfare minister at the work and pensions department, said it would let a range of organisations that could include charities and Citizens Advice Bureaux bid to run the fund.