Agenda and draft minutes

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were none.  

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear).

There were none. 

There were no declarations of interest.

There were none.

The Cabinet Member for Tackling Inequality and Resident services considered the report which sought approval for the updated Household Support Fund Scheme. The Government, through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), had launched the Household Support Fund in October 2021, with extensions through to 30th September 2024. In September 2024, the DWP announced a further extension, covering the period from 1st October 2024 to 31st March 2025. Local authorities were tasked with managing the Fund in their respective areas. Haringey Council had been allocated £2,406,672 for the 6-month period.

The Funds were aimed to support households experiencing significant hardship, particularly those who did not qualify for other forms of government assistance, but still required urgent support. It was designed to assist a broad range of low-income households, including families with children, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, and disabled individuals, with a focus on helping with energy, food, and water bills.

The Cabinet Member noted that the policy allocated:

-       £640,000 for free school meal vouchers during the holidays, benefiting low-income households.

-       £840,000 for £100 cash payments to families in financial hardship, including those with children not eligible for free school meals, pensioner households, low-income families with children under five, care leavers, and households with no access to public funds.

-       £505,000 to direct cash payments of £200 to pension-age households in receipt of Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support who do not receive the Winter Fuel Payment and households in financial stress with a disabled family member.

-       £220,000 to an application-based process for households most in need of extra support in line with eligibility criteria for the scheme.

The Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality:

RESOLVED

1.      To Note the Household Support Fund allocation from the government of £2,406,672 for the period 1 st October 2024 to 31st March 2025.

2.      To approve the allocation of this funding as set out in Appendix 1

3.      To delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Resident Experience, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality, to amend this policy to maximise and control the distribution of the fund and to give effect to changes in legislation, statutory or non-statutory guidance, or directives or instructions of a similar character issued by Government.

4.      To delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Resident Experience, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality, to provide Free Schools Meal (FSM) vouchers to households with children who are eligible for free school meals during the Easter 2025 holidays from a future allocation of Household Support Fund, provided such an allocation is made and such an allocation is permissible under any such scheme. The vouchers are distributed by schools.

5.      To agree that this policy is subject to the availability of government funding and will terminate on 31st March 2025; and (in the event that government increases the funding available and/ or extends the eligible period beyond 31st March 2025), agrees that authority is delegated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.