Purpose

To set out an amendment to the Resident Support Fund eligibility criteria and note the final eligibility criteria for the Resident Support Fund and Family Food Fund.

Decision

That the Corporate Director Resident Services:

i)             Notes the updates provided on current Resident Support Fund (RSF) demand, proposed change in criteria, spend, and the increasing support provided to support residents through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, including the agreed Family Food Fund.

ii)            To amend the Resident Support Fund (RSF) criteria to one application per resident in twelve rolling months.

iii)           To incorporate the Family Food Fund of £1m into the Resident Support Fund for targeted support for families with children who do not qualify for free school meals.

iv)           To note that the intention is to continue with the option agreed in October 2023 for the first 6 months of 2023-24, whilst the prototypes which emerged from the cost-of-living outcomes based review are piloted and evaluated.

Reasons for the decision

The intention is for the RSF to operate with the current criteria for the first 6 months of 2023/2024 with one change of one application in the rolling twelve months and £1m specifically added to RSF to support families with children. In cases of emergencies e.g. flood, fire etc. emergency funds are available through the Council’s partners and community hubs. A second application for RSF would be considered through an emergency referral scheme from partners and community hubs.

The three prototypes will complete in Summer 2023 and evaluation will take place and be reported to Members. The outcome of the pilots will feed into the development of a longer-term model of support for residents.

The Council’s vision is to move away from short-term financial assistance and towards providing residents with longer-term support. An integration of the current Brent Hubs model with the Community Shop and Kitchen model and other Cost of living prototypes could assist with a more holistic approach, aiming to target root causes of poverty, food insecurity, improving community resilience and increasing early support interventions.

A new, integrated support model gives potential to offer residents a new way to     connect with community groups and local organisations and access the information, advice and support they need early.

Alternative options considered

The current economic climate and the cost-of-living crisis means that many of Brent’s residents continue to suffer financial hardship. Amending the RSF qualifying criteria to one application per year means the Council will be able to support more residents.