Agenda item

Agenda item

Delivery of the Household Support Fund

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which set out the Council’s approach to delivering the Household Support Fund.  The aim of the fund was to support households in the city during the winter period with household and other essential expenses.

 

The Deputy Leader (Finance) commented that the Council would receive £6.453m from the Household Support Fund for a six-month period from October 2021 to end of March 2022.  This budget was a fraction of the estimated £30 million that had been removed from UC claimants as a result of the withdrawal of the £20 UC uplift.  The removal of the uplift affected an estimated 59,000 residents of the 78,000 residents/households in receipt of UC in the city, many of whom had household costs to manage. 

 

It was reported that at least 50% of the total funding would be spent on families with children.  In terms of type of support, the expectation was that the Household Support Fund should primarily be used to support households in the most need with food, energy and water bills.  It could also be used to support households with essential costs related to those items and with wider essential costs.  In exceptional cases of genuine emergency, it could additionally be used to support housing costs where existing housing support schemes did not meet this need.

 

In addition to this, if the Council wished to support ongoing free school meal provision during the school holidays that were within this six-month scheme period, then this would require circa £1.7m from the £6.453m allocation before any wider awards or consideration.

 

Councillor Karney lambasted the current government for its failure to recognise the damage that the last ten years of austerity had had on residents living in Manchester and the miniscule amount of funding now being offered was an insult against the decision by government to remove the UC uplift and the ramifications that this had on Manchester residents.

 

Decisions

 

The Executive:-

 

(1)      Agree the government funding for the Household Support Fund of £6.453m is mainly used for direct awards to support residents during the winter months. Although the Council will quantify the admin costs, it will not deduct all of these from the grant award.

 

(2)      Agree that the Council administers the Household Support Fund scheme in four key parts to support Manchester residents, this includes the provision of:-

 

(i)            Support to families to provide free school meals during the holidays, including free school meals for the reminder of the school holidays in this financial year, equating to £15 per pupil per week with money distributed to households on a pupil basis via schools.

 

(ii)          A universal offer to recipients of Council Tax Support and other key groups that includes a payment to all households in the city in receipt of CTS, other key groups, including care leavers responsible for the Council Tax bill in their property and residents who are exempt from council tax due to being severely mentally impaired, equating to a one-off cash grant of £100 to households with dependent children and £70 to households without children.

 

(iii)         A discretionary Household Support scheme using £300k of the grant funding for Households with responsibility for household bills and who are in receipt of means tested benefits. This could include those that may not have qualified or be in receipt of Council Tax Support, residents living in shared or other accommodation where they do not have a liability for Council Tax but have responsibility for household bills.

 

(iv)         Third sector support offer, with the Council setting aside a further £300k to work with advice agencies and the  third sector in the city. This will include further work with the Manchester Food partnership.  This element of the scheme will be developed under delegation in the weeks ahead and will include liaison with key partners.

 

(3)      Note that the final published version of the government guidance to local authorities has not been received and on this basis, agree that continuing development and delivery of the scheme is delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer in conjunction with the Deputy Leader.  This will include the budget management as well as scheme eligibility and delivery.

 

(4)      Note that if significant changes to the scheme are required, it will be brought back to the meeting of Executive in December 2021.

 

(5)      Places its thanks on record for the work undertaken by the Director of Customer Services and Transactions and her team in developing the proposals with technical proficiency and speed as well as care and compassion.

Supporting documents: