Issue - meetings

Household Support Fund

Meeting: 09/04/2024 - Cabinet (Item 5)

5 Household Support Fund: 2024/25 Allocation and Free School Meals PDF 138 KB

Additional documents:

Appendix 1, item 5 PDF 147 KB

Minutes:

Background:

The Cabinet accepted the report as urgent to enable prompt commencement of disbursement of Household Support Fund grant.

The report set out proposals to amend the use of the Household Support Fund (HSF) for the period 1 April to 30 September 2024 to ensure the grant would be disbursed in full to Medway’s residents.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer had confirmed on 6 March 2024 that the Household Support Fund (HSF) scheme would continue for the first six months of the 2024/25 financial year with the same national allocation as had been announced in respect of every six-month period to date. Guidance had been released on 26 March 2024 with there being an expectation that the fund should be used to support households in crisis, not just those in receipt of benefits.

The Leader said he had been pleased to sign a letter with 160 other local authority Leaders calling for the Household Support Fund to be extended. The extension announced was only for a six month period and consideration would need to be given to the impacts should it not be extended further.

Officers and Council partners, in particular, the Head of Benefits and Financial Welfare, Gemma Gilley, were thanked for their hard work in administration of the Fund to date.

Medway residents were encouraged to search ‘Household Support Fund’ on the Council’s website to find out more about the Fund.

Decision number:	Decision:
58/2024	The Cabinet agreed the proposals set out in section 5 of the report as the Council’s approach to delivering the Household Support Fund in 2024/25 and agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Business Management, to finalise and implement these proposals.
59/2024	The Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Business Management, to make minor amendments to the proposals to enable them to continue to support vulnerable households in Medway, including amending any discretionary eligibility criteria where discussions remained ongoing and where further Government advice was provided.
60/2024	The Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Business Management to provide a delivery plan to the Department for Work and Pensions in accordance with the fund guidance.

Reasons:

The Household Support Fund (HSF) is fully grant funded by the Department of Work and Pensions to support vulnerable households. The HSF scheme for 2023/24 ends on 31 March 2024 and the decision to agree the proposals in this report means that residents will benefit from consistent support.

Agreeing the delegation requested allows officers and Members to ensure that the support is allocated efficiently and in accordance with government guidance.