Decision

Salford City Council - Record of Decision

I Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby:

• Note the transition to the Crisis Resilience Fund from 1 April 2026, replacing the previous Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payment, and that Salford will receive ~£6m in each of the next three years.

• Note that Cabinet previously endorsed initial allocations for 2026/27, under authority included in the Council’s annual budget report to Full Council in February 2026.

• Agree to continue with the current provision of holiday food support at £15pw per eligible child, to support children and families in the city with the cost of food during school holidays, for the remaining four weeks (October, December and February) of 2026/27 school holidays.

• Note that options setting out the proposed longer term use of the Crisis Resilience Fund monies for 2027/28 and 2028/29 will be brought to Cabinet later in the year, and in time to inform discussions as part of the Council’s budget strategy and Medium Term Financial Plan for February 2027.

The Reasons are:

Salford has for the past few years used previous Household Support Fund monies to support Holiday Vouchers for those families that are eligible for free school meals.  This has represented a significant commitment to families across the city and has supported the priority to be a Child Friendly Salford.

Salford currently spends around 50% of its CRF allocation supporting Holiday Voucher provision. The CRF guidance states that authorities should use their discretion to prioritise funding efficiently within their own CRF schemes, including when considering how best to support families in crisis to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry in the school holidays. Current guidance states ‘this may or may not be through the blanket provision of vouchers to those on free-school meals, as it is recognised that some Free School Meal eligible families may not routinely need crisis support during every school holiday. Authorities should consider how best to support the poorest and most in need households’.

At the same time as the move to CRF, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 introduces the most significant changes to FSM eligibility since the introduction of Universal Credit.  In moving to new FSM arrangements, Government requires that all existing FSM claims are revalidated under the new rules.  This is being led by the Council’s Revenue and Benefits Service. 

Salford currently has approximately 17,410 live FSM claims recorded, and 94 of 100 schools subscribe to the Council’s FSM administration service.  Initial reviews suggest approx. 70% of those reviewed to date will continue to be eligible for targeted FSM, meaning their household income remains below £7,400 pa.  Many existing awards do also remain in payment solely due to transitional protection and may not continue under new arrangements. 

According to Public Health England Child Health Profiles child poverty rates remain a concern – in Salford 22% of children aged under 16 live in poverty in the city (for the financial year ending 2021), higher than both the national and regional average.   DWP statistics note that 26% of children in Salford were living in absolute low income families in 2023/24.  And rates vary considerably across the city. This highlights the continued need for support to families and children.

The recommended option – to continue with holiday food support at the existing level of £15 per week, per eligible child, will continue to provide essential support to families, whilst we complete the require reassessments for FSM and develop an evidence led longer term approach that is both affordable and continues to support families with the additional cost of food during the school holidays.  Continuation is the simplest and easiest for families and schools, without additional applications or bureaucracy.  It provides certainty up to and including February half-term.   The cost of this extension will be approx. £1.045 m, depending on eligibility and take-up.

The transition to CRF and the rebalancing of that funding is an opportunity to review we support residents in crisis as well as how we work together, across the Council and with partners, to prevent or avoid those crises in the first place.  A rapid review is proposed to set a longer term and sustainable and affordable approach to supporting residents.  This will include insight from lived experience of residents.  This work will be led by the Lead Member for Housing and Tackling Poverty, with input from both the Lead Member for Children’s Services and Adult Services.  A cross-organisation working group led by the Executive Director Corporate Services will support this review.  Proposals for consideration will be brough to Cabinet before the end of 2026, and to inform decisions to be included in the 2027/28 budget strategy and medium term financial plan.

Options considered and rejected were:

Alternative options considered and rejected were:

• To taper holiday food support.  This option would mean a reducing level of financial support to individual families reflecting the shift in Free School Meal eligibility.  As a positive this option would give families time to adjust, continue to support families at most risk of financial stress, and provide time for communications and awareness of the changes.  This option was rejected as it would though delay rather than resolve issues of longer term affordability, and introduce greater complexity for families and schools, without providing any long term certainty.  The cost would remain at circa £810,000 pa.

• To end all holiday food support.  Families would be able to access food support via the Crisis Support scheme, via foodbanks and food clubs.  This options was rejected as it would provide insufficient time for families to adjust to the withdrawal of financial support.  Child poverty remains a significant challenge within the city.  Withdrawal would be inconsistent with the Council’s priorities to tackle poverty and to become a Child Friendly City.

Assessment of Risk: Medium

The source of funding is:  Community Resilience Fund grant

Legal Advice obtained:  Surjit Tour, City Solicitor and Monitoring Officer

The Council has power to administer the Crisis Resilience Fund and to determine a local scheme for the allocation of support, subject to the terms of the grant, any accompanying conditions and the published guidance. The guidance makes clear that the Fund is intended to provide crisis support and build financial resilience, with appropriate governance, assessment, reporting, audit and fraud controls.

Continued use of funding for a broad, automatic holiday voucher scheme based solely on free school meal status would therefore carry increasing legal and compliance risk unless it can be clearly justified as meeting the Fund’s stated objectives and grant conditions. The report provides sufficient justification for use of the Fund for holiday school vouchers.

The recommendations in this report are legally therefore supportable provided Cabinet has regard to the CRF guidance, the Council’s budget framework and the evidence set out in the report, including the changing legal and policy context for free school meals from September 2026.

Any transitional continuation or tapering of holiday food vouchers for the remainder of 2026/27 has been framed as a short-term, time-limited mitigation to support orderly transition and avoidance of sudden hardship. This demonstrates that the Council has balanced compassion, fairness, affordability and compliance with the national framework.

Financial Advice obtained: Rachel Rosewell, Chief Finance Officer.

This report includes proposals for the Crisis Resilience Fund (CRF) of c£6m provided for each of the three years 2026/27 to 2028/29, which replaces the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments funding received in previous years.

Procurement Advice obtained: Not applicable

HR Advice obtained: Not applicable

Climate Change Advice obtained: Not applicable

The following documents have been used to assist the decision process:

Report to Cabinet, 8 September 2026

Crisis and Resilience Fund: Guidance for local authorities in England (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029) - GOV.UK

Contact Officer:       Jacquie Russell                

Email:                     Jacquie.russell@Salford.gov.uk

(Please delete from the list below any which are not relevant.)

-        The appropriate scrutiny to call-in the decision is the Community and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel  

Signed:       Paul Dennett                        Dated:     08/09/26_______                                                 

                    City Mayor

For Democratic Services use only

This decision was published on 9 September 2026.                                            

This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 16 September 2026 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.