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.

Content

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.