Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

The Executive received a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Solicitor, which summarised the announcements in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget Statement and considered the COVID-19 related funding that was likely to be available and any approvals and delegations that would be required.

The report detailed areas of temporary funding that was available to support Manchester residents, and calculated the impact of the support on the Manchester economy and where known, what the plans were for the year ahead for following areas-

·                The universal uplift of £20 to all recipients of Universal Credit

·                The universal uplift of £20 to all recipients of working tax credits;

·                The freezing of Local Housing Allowance rates in cash terms;

·                Funding for free school meals;

·                The removal of the Hardship payment to Local Authorities (to compensate for the reduction in Council Tax received due to the increase in numbers of those on Council Tax Support);

·                The Contain Outbreak Management Funding (COMF); and

·                The Test and Trace Support Payment Funding

The report also made proposals for additional support in key areas to support the city’s most vulnerable residents, which included:-

·                Additional support to working age residents in receipt of Council Tax Support towards the Council Tax that is due - based on a discretionary hardship award of various grant options of £50, £100 and £150;

·                Free School Meal provision – a proposal to use the relevant funding sources to provide three weeks of provision at a £15 per week award which would cover the Easter Break and the half term period;

·                Additional support to carers in the city -  a further grant scheme of £100,000;

·                Tackling Digital Exclusion - a proposal to invest further funding of £274,000 for the delivery of a digital inclusion activities linked to investment from Manchester Health and Community Care’s (MHCC) Digital Transformation Group (DTG) and the Community Champions programme; and

·                Temporary Absence outside Great Britain - Housing Benefit claims for people who were abroad and who would be absent from home for more than four weeks should be kept in payment until such time as they were able to return to their home, the cost to the Council was likely to be nil.

The estimated total cost of these initiatives was £6.2m.  It was proposed this was funded from the uncommitted COMF funding for 2020/21 of £10.3m, leaving a balance of c£4.1m available to support additional resource planning requirements in the remainder of 2020/21 and in 2021/22.

In addition, the Spring Budget had announced additional support for local businesses, centred around Business Rates Grants, Business Rates reliefs and discounts and Expanded Retail Discount and Nurseries’ Discounts for 2021/22.  The report therefore sought further delegations for the additional business support funding to administer these Government schemes.

Furthermore, the report provided details of the Breathing Space initiative that would be introduced in May 2021.  This scheme provided for a breathing space moratorium and a mental health crisis moratorium.  This would provide protections for people in problem debt by pausing enforcement action from creditors, and freezing charges, fees and certain interest on qualifying debts for up to 60 days. For people receiving mental health crisis treatment, a mental health crisis moratorium would provide further protections and lasts as long as a person’s mental health crisis treatment, plus 30 days. Local authorities would be affected by the initiative in three different ways:

·                As creditors, in relation to ‘qualifying debts’ owed to them. Almost all kinds of debts could be included in a moratorium, including council tax, parking charges and sundry debts;

·                Where debt advisers employed by the Local Authority provided debt advice to residents and could offer a moratorium; and

·                Where Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) employed by the Local Authority provided evidence to a debt adviser certifying someone was receiving mental health crisis treatment in order for the debt adviser to then initiate a mental health crisis moratorium.

It was reported that Officers from across the Council would be working to deliver the scheme for the implementation date where necessary engaging with partners.

Councillor S Judge made a statement in relation Government’s investment to tackle domestic abuse and violence. Whilst the proposed £90m in England and Wales was welcomed, it was felt that this was not enough and it did not address the wider issue of male violence against women and girls. She commented that the Council had a duty to build a city where all women and girls could thrive without fear of violence and abuse and as such commented that she would work with colleagues to bring forward a motion to end misogyny, violence and harassment against women and girls, including the support the cause for making misogyny a hate crime.

Following a question on whether there had been any guidance on how the additional support for business would be allocated, the Director of Customer Services and Transactions advised that this had not yet been provided by government but was expected shortly

Decisions

The Executive:-

(1)      Note the main announcements in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget 2021 of 3 March 2021.

(2)      Delegate the design and allocation of discretionary support to Test and Trace Support Payments and funding for the remainder of 2020/21 and the 2021/22 financial year to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

(3)      Agree the proposals for additional discretionary funds in the year ahead within the following areas:

·                An additional discretionary hardship grant of £150 to support working age residents in receipt of CTS towards the Council Tax that is due.

·                Free School Meal provision at £15 per week which would cover the Easter Break and the half term period.

·                An additional £100,000 of financial support to carers in the city.

·                An additional investment of £274,000 into activity to tackle digital exclusion in the city.

(4)      Delegate the decision to allocate and spend the remaining 2020/21 Covid Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) and new burdens funding and any new allocation for 2021/22 for activities to support the ongoing outbreak management and recovery planning to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer in consultation with the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council.  Any additional funding decisions will be reported to 2 June Executive.

(5)     Delegate the decision to update the Council's Revenue Budget for the discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant funding and the associated decision to spend the funding, to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

(6)     Delegate the design and allocation of BEIS Business Support Funding (including the administration of discretionary awards) for the remainder of 2020/21 and the 2021/22 financial year to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

(7)     Support the recommendation for the Council to adopt the discretionary business rates scheme and apply the extended Retail Discount and the Nurseries Discount to the appropriate Businesses.

(8)     Note the introduction of the Breathing Space initiative and the Council’s role in the administration and compliance of the scheme.

(9)     Endorses the statement made by Councillor S Judge.