The Cabinet Member for Homes is scheduled to consider the establishment of a fund to tackle poverty in Carmarthenshire. The meeting will also review the minutes from a previous meeting.

Tackling Poverty Support Fund 2026/27

A key item on the agenda is the proposed establishment of the Tackling Poverty Support Fund for 2026/27. This fund, which is to be established with funding from the Welsh Government's Tackling Poverty Support Funding Package, aims to support individuals and families facing poverty within Carmarthenshire. The report outlines that the funding is intended to alleviate the impacts of poverty, respond to immediate hardship, strengthen preventative support, and build community capacity to create pathways out of poverty.

The funding package totals £303,171 and must be delivered and spent by the end of March 2027. It is proposed that this funding will be distributed through three third-party grant schemes managed by the Authority's Bureau team. These schemes will focus on:

• Foodbanks and Pantry Support: This strand aims to support existing community food initiatives and promote preventative approaches to address the root causes of food poverty.
• Wider Poverty Prevention: This funding is intended to develop and enhance community-based activities that prevent poverty and improve access to cost-of-living advice and support services for children, families, and communities.
• Capital Funding: This will be made available to build the long-term capacity of organisations delivering poverty prevention and emergency food support services, potentially supporting the purchase of equipment for service delivery, food storage, and distribution.

The report highlights that Carmarthenshire has received an enhanced allocation of funding due to its large rural population, aiming to ensure that residents in rural areas can access equivalent support to those in more urban locations. The intended outcomes of the grant include reduced immediate hardship, improved financial resilience, increased access to advice and support services, and greater collaboration between local authorities, health services, and the third sector.

The report recommends that the Cabinet Member approves the establishment of the Tackling Poverty Support Fund and delegates authority to the Head of Economic Development & Property to award funding to successful third-party applicants.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The agenda also includes the signing of the decision record from the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member for Homes, which was held on 21 September 2026. This is a standard procedure to confirm the accuracy of the minutes from that meeting.