Agenda item

Report from the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet agree:

1. That provisional allocations of the Household Support Fund Grant of £4.387m be made as follows:
   1. £2.687m for food vouchers to children eligible for free school meals for school holidays up to and including Easter 2026.
   2. £950k towards the estimated costs of the Council’s Local Council Tax Support Top Up Scheme.
   3. £500k to support applications from households for assistance with energy costs, through the Council’s Energy Crisis Support Scheme.
   4. £90k to provide additional financial support to care leavers.
   5. £60k to local voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to support vulnerable households over Christmas / New Year through a supplement to the Crisis Support service level agreement.
   6. £100k to provide parcels of household items to be distributed through VCS support.

2. Delegate authority to the Assistant Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, to determine revised and final allocations for the Household Support Grant. This will include provision for other eligible actions within the use of Household Support Fund should it not be possible to achieve full spend of the grant through the approved options.

Consideration was given to the update introduced by Councillor Chris Read, the  Leader of the Council, regarding the Household Support Fund allocation for 2025/26. Members were informed that this was expected to be the final year of the Household Support Fund in its current form, following its initial launch in 2021. The fund for the coming year was just short of £4.4 million. The fund was intended to support vulnerable households with the cost of living. Some of the previous rules had been removed, such as the requirement to spend at least 50% of the funding on families with children and another rule that required spending a certain amount on pensioners. With these rules no longer in place, there was greater flexibility in how the funds could be allocated.

The proposal was to continue with the schemes that had been successful in the past. This included allocating nearly £2.7 million for free school meals holiday vouchers, which provided support to eligible children during school holidays. Another £950,000 was proposed for the council tax support top-up scheme, which would be supplemented with reserves to ensure continued support for working-age households. Approximately 14,000 households benefited directly from this scheme. Half a million pounds were designated for the energy crisis grants, which offered £250 grants to households facing energy challenges. These grants had an open application process and were not means-tested, allowing people from all income levels to apply, as energy challenges affected more than just low-income households.

An additional £90,000 was allocated to support care leavers, with a particular responsibility to assist this group. £60,000 was spent on the Christmas hamper scheme, in collaboration with Voluntary Action Rotherham (VAR), which had gone out to hundreds of families, mainly through the food bank network. Finally, £100,000 was set aside for items such as sanitary products, shampoos, soaps, and other essential goods for food banks – items that might be too expensive for some families to obtain otherwise.

In summary, the goal was to balance the allocation of funds between providing direct financial support to those already identified as being in financial hardship – such as those receiving free school meals and council tax support – and offering an open application process for the energy crisis grants, which recognised that financial challenges could impact people in a variety of circumstances.

The Chair invited members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) to raise questions and queries on the points raised earlier.

Councillor Steele queried whether the amount allocated through vouchers for children was sufficient, particularly in light of rising inflation and the current value of money.

The Leader explained that there was a rationale for the current amount, as it was linked to the value of free school meals. The intention was to provide a continuation of the support children received during term time into the school holidays. However, he noted that in his personal view, this level of support was unlikely to be sufficient for a comfortable standard of living for families on very low incomes. He emphasised that the eligibility criteria for free school meals was already very restrictive. Despite this, he acknowledged that the scheme represented the best the Council could do under the circumstances.

From the information provided, Councillor Yasseen welcomed the policy and investment in local people, expressing pride in the Council’s ongoing support over the years. She raised concerns that local funds were increasingly being used to address immediate needs – such as council tax support and food provision during COVID-19 – due to the effects of national government policy. She questioned how sustainable this approach was and asked whether more could be done to lobby the government about the cumulative impact of such decisions on areas like Rotherham

The Leader acknowledged Councillor Yasseen’s points, agreeing with her reflections. He provided additional context, explaining that council tax benefit was once a nationally administered scheme that provided equal support regardless of age. The previous government had changed this by protecting pension-age residents but reducing the support available to working-age households.  This decision had affected more than 10,000 working-age households in Rotherham. Since then, the Council had sought to maintain as much of that support as possible, using funds such as the Household Support Fund to top up the local scheme. He described this as a “half full” scenario, where strong responses from local government, charities, and the voluntary sector had pressured the government to reintroduce some funding. As a result, the Council was now in a position to provide this support, though he emphasised that this should not be seen as a substitute for a properly funded national welfare system. He stated that the welfare system must be the responsibility of the central government and could not be sustained on a municipal level.

Looking ahead, the Leader noted the importance of influencing the national conversation, particularly as the Household Support Fund was expected to end within 12 months. He suggested there needed to be a meaningful debate – both locally and nationally, including through the Local Government Association – on how future support should be structured. He argued that the national government should provide a baseline level of support, enabling people to live with dignity and autonomy, while local authorities should have discretion to respond to unforeseen needs. He concluded by stating that while additional local funding was helpful, real change required sustained national advocacy and that making a strong, collective case would be critical in the months ahead.

Councillor Yasseen raised a further question regarding support for care leavers. While welcoming the investment, she noted that although the funding was not large, it was part of a wider effort to provide diverse support. She expressed concern that some vulnerable groups – such as care leavers – might still face negative outcomes, particularly in education and employment. She asked whether this investment and other forms of support were being delivered in a joined-up way, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for care leavers.

The Leader confirmed that he believed the support offer for care leavers was joined up. He acknowledged that the funding referenced was relatively modest but highlighted that it complemented the broader support already in place for care leavers. Social workers had some financial flexibility to respond to individual needs, and the dedicated service worked closely with care leavers to provide access to relevant facilities and support. While the approach needed to be tailored to each individual, he was confident that the support available worked well in practice to help care leavers, particularly with employment and education outcomes.

Resolved: That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board supported the recommendations that Cabinet agree:

1.    That provisional allocations of the Household Support Fund Grant of £4.387m be made as follows:

a. £2.687m for food vouchers to children eligible for free school meals for school holidays up to and including Easter 2026.

b. £950k towards the estimated costs of the Council’s Local Council Tax Support Top Up Scheme.

c. £500k to support applications from households for assistance with energy costs, through the Council’s Energy Crisis Support Scheme.

d. £90k to provide additional financial support to care leavers.

e. £60k to local voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to support vulnerable households over Christmas / New Year through a supplement to the Crisis Support service level agreement.

f. £100k to provide parcels of household items to be distributed through VCS support.

2.    Delegate authority to the Assistant Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, to determine revised and final allocations for the Household Support Grant. This will include provision for other eligible actions within the use of Household Support Fund should it not be possible to achieve full spend of the grant through the approved options.