Purpose

A further allocation of Household Support Fund
(HSF) was allocated in the Government’s Budget announced on
the 6 March 2024. This covers six months from April to September
2024.
 
A report will be presented to Cabinet in June
to approve allocation of HSF, however, to follow the practice
providing vouchers to children in receipt of free school meals for
the spring half term holiday, a delegated decision will be required
in advance of that. This is because the spring half term holiday
falls before the meeting of Cabinet in June.

Decision

ROTHERHAM METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL RECORD OF OFFICER EXECUTIVE
DECISION

Date of Decision:

7th May 2024

Title:

Household Support Fund April to
September 2024 – allocation of vouchers for children in
receipt of free school meals for the spring half term school
holiday.

Decision Maker:
(Including Job Title)

Jo Brown, Assistant Chief
Executive.

Details of Specific
Cabinet Delegation or Delegation contained in the relevant Sub-
Scheme of Delegation.

Council Constitution, Appendix 9,
Section 4C2: Assistant Chief Executive – Delegated Executive
Functions: The Assistant Chief Executive is authorised to discharge executive functions in
relation to:- (6) Performance,
Intelligence and Improvement, including Policy and
Partnerships.

Decision:

That up to £200k of
Household Support Fund is allocatedto provide vouchers valued at
£15 each to children in receipt of free school meals covering
the spring half term school holiday.

Reasons for the
Decision:

As part of the Government’s budget statement on
6th March, the Chancellor announced that Household Support Fund
(HSF) would be extended for the first six months of 2024/25 (April
to September).

 
On 26th March the Council was allocated £2.489m from this
fund and received government guidance regarding its use.

 
The first available date for
Cabinet to consider and approve allocations of the grant is the
meeting scheduled to 10th June. This information is being incorporated into the
financial monitoring paper that is considered at the
meeting.

 

An established
priority from previous rounds of HSF has been to provide vouchers
for the school holiday periods to children in receipt of free
school meals.

 
Owing to the spring half term
holiday falling before the next Cabinet meeting and overall
allocation of the fund, a

 

delegated decision is required to
provide vouchers for that specific holiday period.
 
Based on an estimated number of
eligible children of 13,000 receiving vouchers valued at £15
each, £195kwould be required to cover the one-week holiday.
To allow for any growth in demand, it is recommended that up to
£200k is allocated with the final actual figure to be
determined as part of the full HSFgrant.

Details of alternative
options considered and rejected:

The alternative would be to not
issues vouchers to children in receipt of free school meals for the
spring half term holiday. This would be a departure from priority
use of Household Support Fund established in previous rounds of
fund allocations and is not recommended.

Conflicts of interest
declared by any Cabinet Member consulted by the decision maker
which relates to the decision:

No conflicts of interest.
 
Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion consulted.

Dispensations
Granted:
(If any)

None.

Reports or parts of
reports considered

None.

 

I certify that this is a true record of the executive decision to
….
 

Allocate up to £200k of Household Support Fund to provide
vouchers valued at £15 each to children in receipt of free
school meals covering the spring half term school holiday.

 

Signed by the Decision Maker Dated: 7th May 2024

Name:         
Jo Brown
 
Job
Title: Assistant Chief Executive