Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

1.      Approve the Council’s proposed use of the Covid Recovery Fund for the following purposes:

·       £500k Cash grant scheme to provide support for households with the rising cost of energy bills.

·       £300k additional funding to top up the Councils Discretionary Housing Payments fund.

·       £100k to support cultural recovery events.

·       £50k to facilitate the administration of these proposals.

2.          Note that a report will be presented to a future meeting regarding the remaining funding of £679k.

Consideration was given to the report which explained that the Council’s Financial Outturn Report 2020/21 to Cabinet in July 2021 earmarked £2m for a Covid Recovery Fund. The Fund had been created to take proactive steps in order to support local residents as they emerged from the pandemic. The funding was being brought forward in March 2022 to help residents against the backdrop of growing concerns around the cost of living due to inflation and significant increases in energy and fuel bills in particular. The Citizens Advice Bureau reported a 50% increase in the use of their services for financial support, with Advocacy and Appeals reporting a 66% increase in residents seeking support in the year from January 2021. Homelessness numbers were also increasing.

It was proposed that £500k be used in a cash grant scheme to provide support for households with the rising cost of energy bills. This support would take the form of a one-off grant of £250 which would be paid directly to the energy provider where possible. This grant would be available to those households unable to pay their energy bill. The support would also be available to those who paid their bills through pre-payment meters but only where the Council had been assured that those households were unable to pre-pay for their energy.

It was also proposed that £300k of the Covid Recovery Fund be used to top up the Council’s allocation from Government for 2022/23 for providing Discretionary Housing Payments. These payments were to help pay rent and could be awarded to residents if they were already receiving Housing Benefit or received the housing element of Universal Credit.

A further £100k would be directed towards support for cultural recovery events and opportunities for people to reconnect. This Fund would work alongside the revenue budget investment that had been agreed as part of the 2022/23 budget setting process for the Women’s Euro 2022 football tournament. It was anticipated that some of the additional £100k would be used to enable participation in events related to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations that would be taking place across the country in June 2022.

It was explained that the remaining £679k would be retained within the Covid Recovery Fund so that further support could be targeted at issues as they arose as the Borough’s recovery from Covid continued.

This report was considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-decision scrutiny process. The Board was fully supportive of the recommendations but requested that guidance on the application process for community events be issued as soon as practicable, especially since the Jubilee celebrations were due to take place in a matter of weeks.

Resolved:-

1.    That Cabinet approve the proposed use of the Covid Recovery Fund for the following purposes:

·       £500k Cash grant scheme to provide support for households with the rising cost of energy bills.

·       £300k additional funding to top up the Council’s Discretionary Housing Payments Fund.

·       £100k to support cultural recovery events.

·       £50k to facilitate the administration of these proposals

2.    That Cabinet note that a report will be presented to a future meeting regarding the remaining funding of £679k.

3.    That guidance be issued as soon as is practicable on the application process for community events.