The Cabinet has decided to approve recommendations for the allocation of funds to the Household Support Fund to provide crisis support to vulnerable households for essentials like energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials.

URL: https://moderngov.harrow.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=63135

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose: The purpose of the Household Support Fund is to provide crisis support to vulnerable households who are struggling to afford household essentials including energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials.

Content: The purpose of the Household Support Fund is to provide crisis support to vulnerable households who are struggling to afford household essentials including energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials. RESOLVED:  That   1.            the allocation of the sixth extension of the Household Support Fund as set out in the officer report, be approved;   2.            the purchase of select codes vouchers from Blackhawk Network to a value of £20,000 for the low-income proactive be awarded to care leavers, £35,000 for the application-based scheme and a maximum of £312,900 for the low-income proactive awards to pensioners (total £367,900), be approved;   3.            the transfer of approx. £642,650 to schools for them to provide free school meals (FSM) vouchers for approximately 7,470-7,700 households with children during the school holidays for Christmas 2024, February 2025 half term and Easter 2025, be approved;   4.            the transfer of £148,000 to Help Harrow (Harrow Together Ltd) to provide food aid across the borough, be approved;   5.            the transfer of £31,000 to Citizens Advice Harrow to provide information and advice services at Conversation Café, be approved;   6.            the transfer of £95,000 to provide additional information, advice and outreach to pensioners who may be eligible to apply for Pension Credit or other passported benefits, be approved;   7.            the transfer of £100,000 to support rent arrears in targeted groups of council tenants, be approved;   8.            the policy for the application-based scheme and the proposed administering process by Citizens Advice Harrow, be approved;   9.            the Council’s Hardship Fund be redirected to the Household Support Fund application-based scheme for 2024/25, be approved;   10.        the Managing Director be delegated authority following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance, Communications and Customer Experience to make technical scheme amendments to ensure the scheme met the criteria set by the Government and the Council and remained within the indicative grant level, including decisions on individual expenditure areas that exceeded the £500,000 threshold, if required; and   11.        the Assistant Director of Corporate Strategy be delegated authority, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance, Communications and Customer Experience to best determine the expenditure of any underspend and to be repurposed in the following areas:   a.     to top up the application-based scheme; or b.     to provide resources to food aid in Harrow through Help Harrow; or c.     to rent arrears, or: d.     to any area of eligible spend where extra resources are needed at that time.   Reason for Decision:  The recommendations in the report met the essential criteria for the grant as set out by the Department of Work and Pensions. The Council had considered where best to target the funding and the proposals provided a balance of support, mindful that the funding was not spread too thinly.   The proposal for the eligible spend covered the following:   -        Free school meals (FSM) vouchers, which had previously been found to provide effective support to vulnerable households with children. -        Vouchers for pensioners in receipt of Council Tax Support but not in receipt of other passported benefits and care leavers moving to independent accommodation.  -        Direct awards to pensioners in receipt of Council Tax Support but not in receipt of other passported benefits who paid their council tax directly by Direct Debit and therefore the council held their bank account details. -        Help Harrow and the Community Hub – the partnership with the Voluntary and Community Sector had shown to be effective in providing essential food assistance and other support quickly and effectively to any vulnerable household in the borough. -        Advice services – through the Conversation Café model, targeting support for unpaid carers. -        An application-based scheme to be run within the Voluntary and Community Sector, which targeted households who had presented with financial hardship and in need of emergency financial support. -        Housing support – through support to council tenants with rent arrears and encouraging the agreement of payment plans. -        Preventative services - to provide advice services on ongoing cost of living support e.g. 1) support pensioners access vouchers issued in HSF6, 2) encourage older residents to access Pension Credit, as gateway to other benefits.  As per DWP guidance, this was able to run beyond the HSF6 timeframe.   [Call-in did not apply to the decision above as it was waived by the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.]  

Date of Decision: October 15, 2024