BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY COUNCIL
Policy & Resources (Recovery) Sub-Committee
4.00pm 4 November 2021
Hove Town Hall - Council Chamber
decision list
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Part One |
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17
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Covid-19 Recovery & Renewal Update
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Ward Affected: |
All Wards |
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RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee -
(i) Noted the work being done to help businesses mitigate the economic impact of Covid 19, and the use of funds from the Additional Restrictions Grant to provide targeted business support through the Business & Intellectual Property Centre Sussex (see Section 3.8.6 of this report for details);
(ii) Noted the progress updates in this report. |
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18
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Response and Recovery Update: Food
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Ward Affected: |
All Wards |
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RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee -
(i) Noted the work happening around the city to provide residents with food and put on record their thanks to all the volunteers and the staff involved;
(ii) Agreed that as a city Brighton and Hove should continue to take a vouchers/cash first approach supported by food/essential items provision;
(iii) Noted the ongoing needs of the Emergency Food Sector in para’s 3.17 – 3.50 which currently costs over £0.931m per annum and the unfunded budget of support needs in financial year 2022/23 as laid out in the table 3.51 of £0.302m;
(iv) Considered Emergency Food needs in future budget setting decisions to prioritise and redirect funding to the ‘Food Cell’ approach. This will develop the mechanism to underpin recovery, renewal and will lead to long-term resilience;
(v) Agreed the following commitments:
1. That the annual cost of £3,400 for parking dispensations and staff time to administer the scheme be incorporated in the 2022/23 General Fund Revenue Budget including through the use of one-off resources if necessary.
2. That the underwriting of a 3-year lease and associated staff to coordinate premises to provide storage and processing space for emergency food (as described in paragraph 3.21 – 3.23) at an annual cost of £65,142 be incorporated in the 2022/23 General Fund Revenue Budget including through the use of one-off resources if necessary.
3. That options for addressing the remaining funding shortfalls in 2022/23, laid out in the table 3.51, of £233,399 are kept under review as the strategy developments and, if necessary, consideration is given to making allocations to address the shortfall if one-off resources or grant funding become available in 2022/23.
4. That options for addressing the potential £24,582 funding shortfall for the purchase of food for this Winter 2021/22 are kept under review and allocations from existing resources and/or grants made subject to availability.
(vi) Requested to instruct Officers to amplify and support a food & essential items donations campaign through the communications team at the council, to bring public attention to this issue, which, if feasible, should include instating donation points at Brighton & Hove City Council public buildings;
(vii) Instructed officers to commission an exploratory piece of work to look at strengthening organisations supporting Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee & Asylum Seekers to provide food access, by working together and providing staff capacity and reporting back to the appropriate committee;
(viii) Instructed officers to undertake further work to explore the need for financial help with meals, including reviewing the provision and cost of community meals, potentially as part of direct payment arrangements, and report back to the Adult Social Care Sub Committee after consultation with groups who represent disabled people. |
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19
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Household Support Fund
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Contact Officer: |
Paul Ross-Dale |
Tel: 01273 291969 |
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RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee
(i) Approved the allocation of funding as outlined in the table at 3.8 of the report;
(ii) For the reasons outlined at para 3.23, the committee delegates necessary adjustments to the approved allocations to the Chief Finance Officer following consultation with the Chair of Policy & Resources Committee and Opposition Spokespersons, provided any adjustment is complaint with the council’s rules for virement as defined under Financial Regulations;
(iii) Noted the Urgency Decision taken under officer delegations by the Chief Finance Officer and approved by the Chair of Policy & Resources Committee on 22 October 20221 regarding the allocation of funding from the Household Support Fund to provide vouchers for free school meals over the October Half-Term holiday period (see Appendix 4);
(iv) Approved the proposed re-allocation of duplicate Contain Outbreak Management Funding (COMF) of £0.190m to homeless prevention by re-allocating funding to top up the Discretionary Housing Payments budget as set out in paragraph 3.13 of the report;
(v) In order to ensure better decision and transparency about the delegated management of these funds - the committee receives a briefing that sets out consolidated details of funds available from: · the Household Support Fund; · COMF; · any unfunded costs referred to in this report and the report on Food (Item 18); · proposed spend in this and future financial years, and the allocations criteria. |
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