Agenda item

Report from the Interim Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement.

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1. Agree provisional allocations of the CRF for the following areas of activity in 2026/27:

Crisis Support

Resilience Services

Community Coordination

Administrative Costs

2. Delegate authority to the Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to determine revised and final allocations for the CRF. This will include provision for other eligible actions in 2026/27 to ensure best use of the funding.

3. Delegate authority to the Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to approve amendments to existing service level agreements and approve new agreements where required, in relation to the allocations above.

4. Agree to receive a further report in December 2026 setting out specific proposals for future years of the fund.

Consideration was given to the report which set out the proposals for the use of the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) for 2026/27 and the broad approach to determining the best use of the funding over the full 3 years. The CRF was announced in the June 2025 Government spending review as a successor to the Household Support Fund (HSF). It would initially operate for 3 years, from April 2026 to March 2029. The new Fund had broader aims than the HSF. Instead of focusing primarily on crisis support to vulnerable households, it put more emphasis on building financial resilience and creating a more connected local support system. The CRF also incorporated Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). Rotherham’s CRF allocation for 2026/27 was £5.2m. This represented an increase of around £300,000 on the combined HSF and DHP allocation for 2025/26.

Funding had to be allocated across 4 distinct elements:

·       Crisis payment – providing support to those in crisis.

·       Housing payment - providing financial support towards housing needs for those who faced a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

·       Resilience services - funding for services that improved financial resilience.

·       Community co-ordination - investment in activities that connected and enhanced the local support landscape.

Further details on how the funding would be allocated in accordance with these requirements was set out in paragraphs 2.5 to 2.14. The specific year one (2026/27) proposals were outlined in paragraphs 3.4 to 3.14.

The report was considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board who advised that the recommendations be supported. Debate had focussed on the impact of inflation and the impact of the ongoing conflict in Iran. Concerns were raised relating to the food parcels and voucher schemes.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Agree provisional allocations of the CRF for the following areas of activity in 2026/27:

Crisis Support

a)    £1m for an application-based crisis support scheme

b)    £1,402,600 to support families with children during the summer holidays

c)    £407,584 for Discretionary Housing Payments

d)    £1.7m towards the costs of the Council’s Local Council Tax Support Top Up scheme

e)    £60,000 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)      £20,000 to provide parcels of household items to be distributed via VCS organisations

g)    £18,000 additional funding for FareShare/food providers to meet increased food costs

Resilience Services

h)    £370,000 for Open Arms Rotherham

i)      £90,000 to provide additional financial support to care leavers

Community Co-ordination

j)      £50,000 to co-ordinate CRF elements, raise awareness, and improve data capture and referral systems

Administrative Costs

k)    £81,699 for DHP administrative costs

2.    Delegate authority to the Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to determine revised and final allocations for the CRF. This will include provision for other eligible actions in 2026/27 to ensure best use of the funding.

3.    Delegate authority to the Director of Policy, Strategy and Engagement, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to approve amendments to existing service level agreements and approve new agreements where required, in relation to the allocations above.

4.    Agree to receive a further report in December 2026 setting out specific proposals for future years of the Fund.