In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting.
Questions specifically on reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda. Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 3 November 2021.
Minutes:
The following question to the Portfolio Holder was received:
From Ms Alsia Igoe
Reference:
The Portfolio Holder’s answer to my question at Children, Education and Families PDS Committee 14 September requesting information on allocation of the additional £141k received by the Covid Essential Fund in August 2021.
Her reply was:
The Housing and Education departments work in partnership to support families through the Covid Local Support Grant. In total, Bromley received £709,516.58 for the period 21 June to 30 September 2021. All of the funding has been spent supporting children and families, including the families of circa 8,500 children with supermarket vouchers over the summer holiday period. If families are struggling, support continues to be available to families through the Welfare Fund, details can be found on Bromley’s website.
Question:
Could you kindly tell me the total amount of money in the Welfare Fund for the year 2020-2021, how much of it was spent in that year and how much remained, if any, at the end of that financial year and where any remaining and unused funds were allocated? Thank you.
Reply:
The Welfare Fund earmarked reserve administered by the Housing, Planning and Regeneration Service, had a balance as at 1st April 2020 of £639k. During 2020/21, £147k was drawn down from the reserve, leaving a balance of £492k as at 31st March 2021. This balance is retained in the earmarked reserve for use in 2021/22 and future years.
Supplementary Question:
It’s excellent to see the Council promoting the government’s funding for the Housing Support Fund on social media yesterday, 8 November.
However, I am concerned that vulnerable residents who are able to self-refer may not read the Policy Document, nor understand exactly what information to provide on or submit with the application form, therefore delaying or cancelling the application to a Fund distributed on a first come, first served basis. The press release encourages them to click on the application form, but makes no mention of the Policy Document, which I have read and throws up the following:
The Policy document states the actual start date of the Fund was 6 October. Why was the Fund not promoted in the last month?
It states those with school age children should contact the child’s school for assistance with food vouchers across the holidays. Why are Bromley not offering holiday food vouchers from within this new Fund to those eligible for free school meals over the Christmas holidays?
On boiler repairs, etc, the Policy document states “a minimum of 2 quotes from different providers should be provided”. Why does the application form not state this? It is only states “supporting evidence”. People may submit only one quote in error.
The Policy Document states “we will publicise the scheme and provide information to relevant agencies, stakeholders and other council services”. Which exact date was this information provided to them, by what means and was it from 6 October?
Why is there no mention of the right to appeal in the Council’s list of information on the Housing Support Fund webpage?
Reply:
Noting that it was a long question with a number of aspects, the Portfolio Holder asked Ms Igoe to email the question in full to enable a full response to be provided. The Portfolio Holder highlighted that the Welfare Fund was administered by the Housing, Planning and Regeneration Service and that the Portfolio Holder would be happy to take them to the correct department.
The Chairman highlighted that the Department for Children, Education and Families worked closely with vulnerable families across the Borough and had been signposting families to the support available and supporting them through the process.
The Director of Education confirmed that supermarket vouchers would be made available to eligible families through schools as they had been during other school holiday periods.
Following the meeting, the Portfolio Holder for Renewal, Recreation and Housing provided the following response:
The Household Support Fund was launched on 8th November to provide financial support to residents facing financial hardship. 6th October represented the date the Government notified the Council, along with other local authorities, that this funding would be received. Final guidance to permit the Council to distribute funds was only received on Friday 5th November, so the scheme was launched on the earliest reasonable date and was amongst the first in London to go live.
The initial launch page for the scheme that appeared in the ‘latest news’ section of the Council website homepage directed residents to an information page about the scheme and not directly to the application. All evidence required is explained in the form and not all information needs to be or should be provided in the initial application form. For example, two quotes for boiler works are required, but residents are only asked to provide this once they are found to be eligible, to prevent residents who are unable to access the fund going to this trouble unnecessarily. The right to appeal is clearly stated on the fund policy page. Naturally the application information and webpages are regularly reviewed, particularly based on resident feedback to ensure it is as clear and accessible as it can be.
These grant monies have also been used to fund school meals during school holidays. Applications to access this funding should be made directly to applicant children’s schools, as stated on the webpage and as schools are aware.
A number of partner organisations alongside representatives from Council services were also contacted on 8th November so individual teams can advise clients and residents on how to apply for the grants.