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Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)
 
I,
Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained
within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve:
 
·     
Use of the 2024 Household Support Fund (HSF)
allocation (Round 5) to support roll-out of Holiday Food Vouchers
to eligible Salford children at £15 per week up to the end of
September 2024 at a cost of £1.648 million.
A decision on whether to continue with the provision
of Holiday Food Vouchers beyond September will need to be taken in
the Autumn, subject to decisions by
Government on any extension to HSF.
 
·     
The remaining balance of £805,000 from the
2022/23 GMCA waste levy (as part of the Cost of Living investment
fund) is carried over to create a sustainable funding pot for HSF
activity.
 
·     
£100,000 from this funding be provided to
Salford Loaves and Fishes for 2024/25, with future prevention and
support models to be explored via the Community Solutions Innovate
Programme.
 
·     
The following allocations set out below for six
months, with further allocations to be reviewed in September
2024:
 
o       
£70,000 to be invested in Housing Benefits
support
o       
£100,000 to be invested in foodbanks and food
clubs, via Salford CVS
o       
£50,000 to be invested in Adult Social
Care
o       
£1.4m to be invested in Salford Assist support
programmes.
 

The Reasons are:
 
Since
October 2021, Salford has received a total of £16.2m through
the HSF, which has funded activity across a number of council and
partner services to support some of Salford’s most vulnerable
residents.  Along with the
council’s core investment, the fund has supported Salford
Assist, Welfare Rights and Debt Advice, Salford CAB, Housing
Options, Supported Tenancies, Hospital Discharge Teams, GPs,
Salford Credit Union, Salford Foundation and other VCSE
organisations.
 
Some of
the vital support provided to residents from this funding included
support with food, debt advice, money management, benefit advice,
homelessness, energy provider schemes, recycling programmes and
money services. An internal audit, completed in October 2023,
reviewed the level of assurance that HSF funding was being
effectively managed, with the overall level of Assurance provided
as high.
 
Furthermore, research by GM Poverty Action on the use of HSF
within Salford concluded that the necessity of support for Salford
residents through HSF could not be overstated.  The support had provided a vital lifeline to
residents facing financial difficulties and had been well
received
 
In recognition of the importance of
this funding to support residents, the council agreed to invest
£2.7m non-recurring funding from core revenue to ensure work
to support residents with the high cost of living could
continue.  Then, in March 2023,
Government confirmed a 5th round of the HSF until 30th
September 2024.  Salford’s
allocation is £2.7m.  This funding
was confirmed late in the budget cycle (and only after Salford had
set its budget for 2024/25). 
 
In August 2023, Cabinet also agreed
priorities for investment of the £3.2m 2022/23 GMCA waste
levy refund.  This included £612k
to fund an extension of Holiday Vouchers for all school holidays
and £750k to cover investment in Salford Assist (including
£32k to support residents of the Duchy Estate). This funding
has not subsequently been fully spent with a current balance of
£805k.
 
Therefore, the City Mayor in
consultation with Cabinet have agreed to use the
the £5.4m (combined HSF Round
5 and SCC investment) in 2024/25, and to carry over the unspent
2022/23 GMCA waste levy (£805,000), to create a sustainable
funding pot if the new Government do not continue with
HSF.
 
This means a combined total of
£6.205m is available for allocation in 2024/25.  Allowing for the allocation set out for the
continuation of Holiday Food Vouchers up to the end September 2024,
would mean that £4.557m was available to fund other activity
in 2024/25.
 
Initial investment is set out
below:
 

Activity

Six month 
allocation

Holiday Food Vouchers
 

£1,648,500
 

Salford Loaves and Fishes
 

£100,000
(* full year allocation)

Housing Benefits
 

£70,000

Food Banks and voluntary sector
 

£100,000

Adult Social Care
 

£50,000

Salford Assist
 

£1,400,000
 

 
Following agreement of the above, approximately £2.837m is
to be allocated in September 2024. At which time the council should
have clarity on the future of HSF.  A
report will be brought to Cabinet seeking collective agreement to
the use of remaining funds. This will also set out the impact of
HSF investment to date and a view on future demand for support in
light of demographic changes in the city.

 

 

Options considered and rejected were:
A wide
range of options were considered for funding support.  These were short-listed through iterative
conversations between senior officers, Lead Members, and Cabinet
collectively.  Options that have been
prioritised are those that can be delivered in the short term and
will provide direct support to residents.  Options were also considered in terms of their
longer term impact on the Council’s budget
 

Assessment of Risk: Medium. 
Decisions taken have a direct financial impact for the
council.  Clear decisions are needed to
enable schools to implement holiday food vouchers and for SCC
services to make sustainable plans for support to
residents. 
 
The source of funding is:
HSF
for the period April to September 2024, council funding to support
HSF work to end of March 2025, and funding carried forward from the
23/24 Waste Levy investment.
 
Legal Advice
obtained: not applicable
 
Financial Advice
obtained: Michelle Cowley, Finance
Manager, michelle.cowley@salford.gov.uk
This
report is to agree the allocation of the funding available for the
HSF and continuation funding.  A total
of £6.205m is available for allocation in 2024/25.
This
consists of £2.7m HSF Apr-Sept, £2.7m council funding
to support HSF work to the end of March and £805k carried
forward from the 23/24 Waste Levy investment.
There
is uncertainty beyond 24/25 in terms of HSF funding.  There is some funding from the Salford Assist core
budget that has been set aside for consideration of future service
provision.
 
Procurement Advice
obtained: Anthony Hilton, Head of
Strategic Procurement, anthony.hilton@salford.gov.uk
If
Cabinet are minded to agree and approve an initial £100k
funding for 2024/25 and any subsequent funding thereafter, then
this should be done so ensuring that appropriate Service Level
Agreements (SLA’s) form part of any funding agreement, along
with effective performance monitoring and management metrics to
ensure visibility and transparency of delivery.
 
HR Advice
obtained: Not applicable
 
Climate Change Advice
obtained: Not applicable
 
The
following documents have been used to assist the decision
process:

Report to Cabinet, 11 June 2024, Investment Options for
Household Support Fund 2024/25
Report to Cabinet, 8
August 2023, Investment Options for Cost of Living
Support

 
(if
the documents disclose exempt or confidential information, they
should not be listed, but the following wording shall be inserted :
"(The relevant documents contain exempt or confidential information
and are not available for public inspection)":-

Contact
Officer: Janice Lowndes, Director
People and Communities, janice.lowndes@salford.gov.uk
 
The appropriate scrutiny to
call-in the decision is the Overview and Scrutiny Panel          

 

 

Signed:
         Paul
Dennett          
          
Dated:   17.06.24.
                       
Paul Dennett - City Mayor
 

For Democratic
Services use only

 

This decision was
published on 17.06.24                                         

This decision will
come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 24.06.24                   
                              
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.