Bromley is not in City Hall's family benefits advice scheme yet, with seven boroughs unnamed. Free advice is on 0808 278 7898. Checked November 2026.
Bromley is not among the 12 boroughs where City Hall’s free family benefits advice scheme runs today, although the £4.7m the Mayor of London announced on Wednesday 4 November will take it to 19. The seven new boroughs “will be confirmed in due course”, so Bromley could still be one of them.
Lewisham, Greenwich and Croydon, all on Bromley’s border, are already in the Family Financial Resilience Partnership. The others are Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham, Brent, Enfield, Southwark, Haringey, Ealing, and Barking and Dagenham. The release does not say how the next seven will be chosen, or how the money will be split.
The scheme puts free, independent advisers into Best Start Family Hubs and Children’s Centres, covering benefits, housing, childcare, immigration, disability and employment. Bromley is reorganising its own centres at the same time: the council has named four Family Hub localities for April 2027, at Community Vision in Penge, Castlecombe in Mottingham, Blenheim in Orpington, and Biggin Hill.
Where to get free advice in Bromley now
None of this depends on the City Hall money:
- Bromley Well and Citizens Advice Bromley: freephone 0808 278 7898, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Citizens Advice Bromley says the line is answered by Bromley Well, and that its South Street address in Bromley is for post only, with no walk-ins.
- Over-65s: Bromley Well lists an information and advice service for older people.
- Check what you could claim: the council has an online benefit calculator, which it says identifies benefits, discounts and social tariffs and explains how to claim them.
- In a sudden crisis: the Crisis and Resilience Fund gives short-term help to borough residents aged 16 or over on a low income. You do not have to be on benefits, and awards are discretionary. It follows the Household Support Fund, which the council says closed when government funding ended on 31 March 2026.
The six children and family centres open today offer information and advice on housing, and the council says the courses they host can include money management.
One of the scheme’s drop-ins is just over the border. Lewisham’s family hubs site lists a free weekly session for parents and carers at Best Start Family Hub Downham, Shroffold Road, BR1 5PD, on Thursdays from 9am to 3pm. That address has a Bromley postcode, but the service belongs to Lewisham, and the notice carries no date and does not say whether people from other boroughs can use it. Ring 020 8695 5915 before you travel.
Bromley is missing from the campaign tables too
A second pot of nearly £750,000 continues the Mayor’s work with boroughs and the data firm Policy in Practice on claims for Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance, disability benefits and Universal Credit. It also pays for improvements to City Hall’s Cost of Living Hub, which anyone can read. City Hall says this could reach 32,500 households and bring them £15m. The release names no boroughs for it.
City Hall’s tables for the campaigns so far list 27 boroughs for Pension Credit, 19 for Attendance Allowance and 16 for Healthy Start. Bromley is in none of them, and the page gives no reason. That does not mean nobody in Bromley has claimed: the tables only count the City Hall campaigns.
Next door, the Pension Credit table shows:
- Lewisham: 1,343 households contacted, £1,831,426 a year
- Greenwich: 1,630 households contacted, £1,365,887 a year
- Bexley: 153 households contacted, £33,996 a year
- Croydon: 1,104 households contacted, with the amount “not currently available”
Across the 27 boroughs, the total is 37,922 households contacted and £40,863,318 a year. Policy in Practice says its figures are accurate as of December 2025.
What City Hall says the money will do
In its first six months the partnership helped more than 6,000 families across the 12 boroughs secure more than £5.4m, City Hall says, though its notes to editors round that to £6m. The extension could help around 29,000 more families reach £18m over two years. City Hall also estimates that more than £4bn in benefits goes unclaimed in the capital each year, drawing on Policy in Practice’s Missing Out 2025 report.
Since April 2022, City Hall counts £108m reaching 170,000 households through four programmes: £52m to 55,000 households from benefit take-up campaigns, £43m to 98,000 from the Advising Londoners Partnership, £7m to 11,000 from advice in community settings, and £6m to 6,000 from the family hubs scheme.
Sadiq Khan said: “I’m committed to doing everything I can to support Londoners with the cost of living and am proud that we have already helped over 170,000 Londoners claim more than £108m in financial support that they are entitled to. This money is making a big difference to help their daily lives and that’s why I’m providing further funding to ensure even more families on low incomes can get support.”
Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, the Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, said: “We know that so many Londoners are struggling to get by, yet are completely unaware or unable to access the financial support that is available to them. As winter approaches and concerns about covering bills increase, we’re delighted to be extending the work of the Family Financial Resilience Partnership to more boroughs so that even more families can access the support they’re entitled to.”
Nezahat Cihan, chief executive of the London Legal Support Trust, said the money “will enable families across the additional boroughs to access high-quality, specialist legal advice through our centres as part of a wider partnership that provides wrap-around services.”
Jonathan Mogford, who chairs London Citizens Advice, said: “Citizens Advice has deep and trusted links into London’s diverse communities, many of whom are impacted by hardship, the cost-of-living crisis, as well as housing and immigration challenges. So we are delighted to be working with the GLA for a further two years, expanding our services in Family Hub settings.”
“Delivering over £108 million directly into residents’ pockets is a powerful reminder of what collaborative, proactive action can achieve,” said Abigail Everett, head of client services at Policy in Practice.
One parent helped at a family hub in Barking, where the scheme already runs, said in the release: “Knowing that someone is listening to me, taking my concerns seriously, and helping me find the right support has made me feel less alone during a very challenging time.”
What it means for you
For now, the release brings no new service to Bromley, so the freephone line and the council’s calculator are the places to start. We will update this page when City Hall names the other seven boroughs.
If you are over State Pension age on a low income, Pension Credit is worth checking first. City Hall says it also unlocks help with energy and council tax bills, free NHS dental treatment, Housing Benefit for renters, and a free TV licence at 75 or over. Bromley’s own charges are on our council tax bands page.
The latest local jobless figures we have reported show 7,295 people on the claimant count in Bromley in August, 135 more than a year earlier.
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