Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendation:

1. That Cabinet approves the Financial Inclusion Plan 2026-28.

Consideration was given to the report which presented the refreshed Financial Inclusion Plan which detailed the support available to Rotherham residents. The aim was to help tenants and residents improve their quality of life by maximising their income, reducing debt, increasing levels of educational attainment, and improving their potential to gain employment. The Plan 2026-28 would be implemented by the Financial Inclusion Team within the Housing Service with involvement from all Directorates. It was intended therefore to align resources and offer services, to all residents of the borough whether they were RMBC tenants, privately renting or homeowners, as appropriate.

The Council first developed a Housing Financial Inclusion Plan which covered the period 2017-2020. This was then updated for 2022-25 and its focus expanded to include all Rotherham residents. The Plan was designed to reflect current support practices and to develop a wider range of operational support, placing the customer at the heart of the service delivery model. The objectives were to promote financial responsibility, offer practical help with maintaining access to housing regardless of housing status and protect the most vulnerable and provide comprehensive support and advice. Paragraph 1.2 of the report set out some examples of this work.

The Plan aimed to financially empower residents, and this was to be achieved through a combination of interventions:

·       Education - Multi-point education covering essential life skills such as budgeting, cooking and home management delivered from childhood into adulthood.

·       Money Advice: Specialised bespoke budgeting advice with a focus on money saving techniques where there was no additional entitlement to benefits.

·       Holistic Support: Client centred, holistic support which identified and took steps to address the underlying issues that could exacerbate financial difficulties such as mental health issues/drug/alcohol addiction etc to facilitate tenancy sustainment.

·       Employment and Training: Educating, upskilling, and supporting people into economically beneficial and sustainable employment opportunities.

The Council recognised that supporting its residents remained important. In line with the Council’s Year Ahead Delivery Plan, the focus would be on reaching the people impacted by financial hardship that might have never needed to access support services before. As such, the framework was focused on tackling those issues. Further, the Council had continued to embed financial inclusion activity across services and external grants had been managed to ensure that residents accessed the support that was available. A number of activities in the plan were delivered through external grants and this would be kept under review.

Resolved:

1.    That Cabinet approves the Financial Inclusion Plan 2026-28.