Subject:
Cost of Living Action Plan and Brighton & Hove Fairness
Fund
Date of
meeting: 28 March 2024
Report
of:
Chief Finance Officer
Contact
Officer: Catherine Glossop, Assistant
Director, Policy & Communications;
Giles Rossington, Policy, Partnerships & Scrutiny Team
Manager
Paul Ross-Dale, Welfare, Revenues & Business Support
Manager
Email:
Catherine.glossop@brighton-hove.gov.uk
giles.rossington@brighton-hove.gov.uk
paul.ross-dale@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s)
affected: All
For general
release
1.1
This report presents a Cost of Living Action Plan (Appendix 1) for
the city for approval. The Action Plan has been compiled following
engagement with residents, partners and wider stakeholders. It
contains the council’s key response to the crisis focusing on
emergency and hardship support, advice and signposting to other
help, prevention through joining up support across the city to
address poverty and inequality, and measures aimed at building
longer term resilience.
1.2
The report also creates and allocates the Brighton & Hove
Fairness Fund incorporating allocation of the recently announced
extension of the Household Support Fund.
1.3
The Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund will use a mix of council
resources, reallocated external funding, and the Household Support
Fund 2024-25 to provide as much support as possible to low-income
households impacted by the high cost of living, particularly
housing costs.
2
Recommendations
2.1
Approves the Cost of Living Action Plan set out in Appendix 1.
2.2
Approves the creation of a new Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund as
a practical and strategic response to the challenges set out in the
Cost of Living Action Plan.
2.3
Agrees the proposed allocation plans for the Brighton & Hove
Fairness Fund incorporating the council’s General Fund
resources, reallocated external funds, and the Household Support
Fund 2024-25 as set out in paragraph 4.6, having noted the
Equalities Impact Assessment at Appendix 2.
2.4
Notes that management of the application process for bids against
the sum allocated to the ‘Fairness Fund for Community
Organisations’, if approved, will be managed by the
Communities, Equalities & Third Sector team.
2.5
Notes that any sums identified for allocation at a later date will
be brought back to an appropriate member meeting for approval.
2.6
Agrees to delegate adjustments to allocations of the Household
Support Fund to the Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the
Chair of Strategy, Finance & City Regeneration Committee,
within the bounds of the council’s rules for virement, where
the funding available changes, or there is evidence of changing
need throughout the 6-month period of the Household Support Fund,
to ensure that all of the fund is utilised within the time
allowed.
3
Context and background information
3.1
Recent years have seen a UK cost of living crisis, with the prices
of basic goods, fuel, energy and housing rising sharply, and in
excess of average increases in wages, benefits or pensions.
Although the cost of living is no longer receiving the national
media attention it did, the challenges in the city remain acute.
The rate of inflation has fallen, but prices are high and prices
for many items are still rising more quickly than wages. Even where
some prices (e.g. for petrol or for energy) have reduced, they are
still far higher than just a couple of years ago. In other key
areas, such as the cost of renting, prices have shown little or no
sign of stabilising.
National Government Response
3.2
The Government has taken a number of actions to attempt to mitigate
the cost of living crisis, using monetary policy intended to
control inflation as well as offering both universal and targeted
support to help households and businesses cope with increasing
prices. The Government has provided support for local areas by
introducing the Household Support Fund (HSF) which has provided
direct funding to local authorities to support their most
vulnerable residents. Given the pressure on local authority
finances, this fund has been important in terms of providing short
term crisis and hardship support administered by the council.
3.3
In 2023-24, £4.280m HSF was allocated to Brighton and Hove.
It paid for the Local Discretionary Social Fund, food vouchers
during the school holidays for children eligible for free school
meals, Discretionary Council Tax Reductions, and contributed
significantly towards the city’s emergency food response.
Organisations in the Voluntary and Community Sector were allocated
funding to support their clients. In addition, the HSF has funded
or contributed towards programmes designed to improve financial
sustainability for households, such as the Energyworks project,
which aligns fuel grants with energy advice.
3.4
The government announced on 6 March 2024 in the Spring Budget that
the Household Support Fund would continue at the same rate for a
further six months (April 2024 to September 2024). Assuming this is
distributed on the same basis, the council would expect to receive
£2.140m. Similarly, while guidance has not been issued, the
expectation is that eligible areas of use will remain the same. For
the purposes of designing the allocation plan, officers have
inferred that the criteria and guidelines will broadly remain the
same as the 2023-24 scheme.
Local Government Response
3.5
Councils in England face severe financial pressures due to a
combination of reduced Government funding and increased demand for
services, particularly for adult and children’s social care
and for emergency and temporary housing. This has significantly
impacted councils’ ability to provide additional services to
ease the immediate pressures of the cost of living crisis. However,
a very substantial area of support includes Council Tax Reduction
which has seen a substantial increase in Working Age claimants
since the pandemic of around 2,000 households, requiring increased
investment of approximately £2 million per annum. In setting
its 2024-25 budget, Brighton & Hove City Council has aimed to
protect essential services, including support to those most exposed
to the cost of living crisis and has uplifted its Council Tax
Reduction earnings thresholds in line with inflation to maintain
support in real terms. However, for 2024-25 it has also prioritized
creation of a new Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund pulling
together council General Fund resources, reallocated external
funds, and the DWP Household Support Fund.
Cost of Living Action Plan
3.6
In August 2023 the council published its draft Cost of Living
Action Plan for consultation. 170 residents and partners responded
to the consultation or attended in-person engagement and ideation
events. The responses have fed into the council’s approach,
which focuses on joining up support across the city, providing
emergency support to those most in need and using policy levers to
tackle the underlying drivers of poverty and inequality. The full
Cost of Living Action Plan is set out in Appendix 1.
Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund
3.7
Amid the uncertainty of the government’s decision about
continuing the HSF, as noted above the council’s approved
budget for the next financial year set aside resources to establish
a new Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund to provide an ongoing
response to the challenges highlighted in the Cost of Living Plan.
Whilst the HSF has subsequently been confirmed for a further six
months, the Fairness Fund provides assurance of the council’s
commitment to continue support over the year within available
resources. Local one-off funding of up to £0.614m has been
committed to launch the Fairness Fund, although £0.307m of
this is dependent upon the council realising the projected
underspend for 2023-24.
4
Administering the B&H Fairness Fund
4.1
The B&H Fairness Fund will operate as a co-ordinated response
to challenges highlighted in the Cost of Living plan, drawing
together different funding streams and providing an ongoing safety
net as the city continues to address poverty, beyond the Cost of
Living crisis.
4.2
The future of the Household Support Fund beyond September 2024
remains uncertain. When it comes to the HSF, the government has
tended towards confirming each extension at the last minute, on
this occasion giving just over three weeks to put plans in place.
The council has lobbied alongside many other councils, the Local
Government Association and the voluntary sector for a longer term
financial solution around local welfare assistance. It is entirely
possible that a further extension could be provided beyond
September but discussion on the issue is likely to remain
speculative until later in the year.
4.3
Elsewhere, officers have been drawing together external income from
other funding sources. Some examples of this include the funding
from utility providers, Southern Water, Enforcement Companies,
Public Health and unallocated money from the Shared Prosperity
Fund. Additionally, the Fairness Fund will include Textile
Recycling Funding (£10,000) and a contribution from the
Hedgecock Bequest Fund (£50,000), along with core funding
earmarked for Black and Racially Minoritised engagement support
(£15,000). Additional funding is estimated at £0.215m,
but this may increase during the year.
4.4
With all the elements combined, assuming confirmation of the
council’s underspend and the expected HSF allocation, the
amount available for allocation is as follows:
Administration
of the Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund including HSF:
|
Source of
Funding
|
Amount
|
|
Council General
Fund
|
£0.614m
|
|
Reallocated
external funds
|
£0.215m
|
|
Household Support
Fund *
|
£2.140m
|
|
Total
Resources
|
£2.969m
|
*
Estimated funding based on the announced national funding level
which must be used between 1 April and 30 September
2024.
4.5
In setting up the Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund in conjunction
with the HSF, the council will be able to provide a wide range of
support, for example food vouchers, discretionary council tax
reduction payments and support for food banks and community
organisations that help those most in need.
|
B&H
Fairness Fund
Allocation
Areas:
|
Funding
Source
|
|
Council
General Fund
|
Household
Support Fund
|
Re-allocated
Funds
|
Total
|
|
Emergency
Food, Fuel and essentials Provision, including Impact Initiatives
on-the-day support
|
62,000
|
251,000
|
|
313,000
|
|
Local
Discretionary Social Fund Apr-Sep, basic voucher scheme
Oct-Mar
|
140,000
|
309,000
|
60,000
|
509,000
|
|
BHCC
staffing full year (3 x Sc6, 1.5 x M11, 1 x Sc4a)
|
56,000
|
117,000
|
|
173,000
|
|
Discretionary
Council Tax Support
|
|
80,000
|
50,000
|
130,000
|
|
Vouchers
for Free School Meals in school holidays for eligible children
– April 24, May Half term, Summer 24
|
|
1,161,000
|
|
1,161,000
|
|
Children's
Services Pods - Section 17 preventive payments
|
|
30,000
|
|
30,000
|
|
Family
Hubs
|
|
30,000
|
|
30,000
|
|
LIFT
dashboard
|
|
10,000
|
|
10,000
|
|
Lift
Up Scheme
|
|
40,000
|
|
40,000
|
|
Energy
support programmes
|
|
90,000
|
30,000
|
120,000
|
|
Fairness
Fund for Community Organisations
|
80,000
|
|
75,000
|
155,000
|
|
Advice
Services
|
|
22,000
|
|
22,000
|
|
Amount
to be allocated later in the year following confirmation of the
2023-24 council outturn
|
276,000
|
|
|
276,000
|
|
Total
allocated
|
614,000
|
2,140,000
|
215,000
|
2,969,000
|
4.7
Priority has previously been given to providing support for
Emergency Food Provision, fuel support and the supply of other
daily living essentials. There is still a citywide reliance on food
banks and voucher support to provide the necessary welfare response
to the needs of vulnerable residents experiencing poverty. One key
success of previous allocations has been to provide a “many
doors” approach, where households can access help either from
council access points or from community-based support. There is now
an established network of community based organisations focused on
providing such support. £0.313m has been allocated to
distribute to organisations, including £0.030m to ensure that
specialist groups supporting those with protected characteristics
and those with No Recourse to Public Funds are also covered. Using
local funding, the Fairness Fund will provide stability and
continuity by contributing £0.062m for the latter part of the
year.
4.8
Within the £0.313m set aside for Emergency Food and
Provisions, £0.058m will be allocated to Brighton and Hove
Food Partnership (BHFP) and Impact Initiatives, including a
£0.020m contribution to staffing costs and £0.038m for
food vouchers. This will enable the provision of emergency
on-the-day food support for residents across the city, including
online food shopping undertaken by Impact Initiatives, emergency
food vouchers issued by BHFP and purchase of food and cooking
equipment.
4.9
As the council moves into the second half of the year, it will be
important to consider the developing food strategy, including how
the city can move from a crisis support model to a more sustainable
food support model, where organisations are able to operate with
more security and resilience, and households are able to move
towards a sustained improvement of their financial situation.
4.10
The citywide welfare infrastructure, including the Community and
Voluntary Sector, has come to rely on the safety net provided by
the Local Discretionary Social Fund (LDSF). Support provided
includes food vouchers, fuel payments, essentials for daily life,
and even furniture, bedding and white goods. The flexibility of the
fund has enabled the council to respond to the variety of complex
needs presented by households under the extreme pressure of crisis
and poverty. It is proposed that the Fairness Fund is utilised to
guarantee the continuation of the team and its work for the full
year up to March 2025.
4.11
For the period April to September 2024, the HSF will provide the
bulk of funding for the team, with the Fairness Fund providing
continuity for the remainder of the year. Without additional HSF
for October to March 2025, there may need to be adjustments to the
criteria and range of help available from the LDSF. The total
allocated for the year as a whole is £0.509m, compared to
£1.400m for 23-24. However, the LDSF pot will be kept under
review as new funding opportunities emerge.
4.12
Discretionary Council Tax help is a source of assistance for
households struggling to meet the demands of their Council Tax
liabilities. Most of these households will already have entitlement
to Council Tax Reduction, and officers can use Discretionary
Council Tax Reduction to reduce their bill further. In rare
situations, officers are also able to reduce bills where there is a
gap in Council Tax Reduction entitlement. In 2023-24, the
expenditure on this strand is projected to be in the region of
£0.255m. The amount allocated for 2024-25 is
£0.130m.
4.13
Food vouchers for the school holidays have been provided for
qualifying low-income families since December 2020, using a
succession of different government funding, but in the last
2½ years, the school holiday provision has relied upon HSF.
For 2024-25, the breakdown of funding is such that from April to
September, there is a good level of affordability from HSF to
continue paying for food vouchers during Easter, half term and the
Summer holidays. From October to March, providing food vouchers (at
£15 per child) for remaining holidays would cost up to
£0.568m for 4 weeks’ holidays and would therefore
largely deplete remaining resources and potentially prevent nearly
all other forms of priority support from being provided.
4.14
Accordingly, the allocation plan allows for 9 weeks of holiday food
vouchers, at the established value of £15 per child per week,
for Easter 2024, Spring Half Term 2024 and the Summer Holidays
2024. A decision on the school holidays between October 2024 and
March 2025 will be made later in the year, when more is known about
whether the HSF will be continued for a further period and/or other
resources are confirmed.
4.15
In previous allocations, Family Hubs have distributed food vouchers
to a broad range of families using their services. In
Children’s Services, social workers have also used HSF to
supplement council-funded discretionary Section 17 help that they
provide to those they are supporting. The 2024-25 allocation plan
includes £0.030m each for Family Hubs and Children’s
Services, to cover the April to September period.
4.16
Another effective outcome from previous allocation schemes has been
the funding or co-funding of holistic support programmes. Crisis
support and food vouchers provide an immediate remedy for
households, but without ongoing support, they can all too often
fall back into the same situation. This is evident from the high
level of repeat applications received on the LDSF team for
support.
4.17
HSF has previously contributed funds towards various programmes
designed to help individuals and families find their feet, improve
their financial resilience and move them out of cyclical crisis.
The following examples show the breadth of activity supported
either in part or fully by HSF:
·
Energyworks -
providing financial and welfare benefit advice in conjunction with
emergency fuel support.
·
Lift
Up programme - supporting “just about managing”
households who just miss out on entitlement to national benefits,
but the combination of debt and rising prices puts them in a worse
position than families who do qualify for help.
·
BHESCO – providing energy advice and solutions in
households.
4.18
£0.040m has been allocated for a continuation of the Lift Up
scheme, while £0.120m has been set aside for energy based
support programmes, with the potential of additional funding being
identified during the year. This includes £0.025m ring-fenced
Public Health funding which will be managed within the Fairness
Fund and allocated to energy related support and advice services.
Public Health has historically provided funding for this area of
work and will continue to determine how the £0.25m component
is spent, maintaining continuity from previous years.
4.19
The Communities Fund is coming to an end due to the council needing
to address a budget shortfall of around £30m in 2024-25. The
value of the fund was over £0.300m and was aimed at
supporting grass roots community groups, voluntary organisations
and not-for-profit social enterprises through regular bidding
processes. The new Fairness Fund aims to mitigate some of this
impact by setting aside an element of the fund for community &
voluntary organisations and groups to apply to. The ‘Fairness
Fund for Community Organisations’ incorporates contributions
from Textile Recycling Funding and The Hedgecock Bequest Fund, in
addition to funding from the council, to provide up to
£155,000 for distribution. The Fairness Fund for Community
Organisations will be administered by the Communities, Equality
& Third Sector (CETS) team who have the necessary application
processes in place to manage equitable distribution.
4.20
The Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) dashboard has been used for
mapping poverty indicators in the city and for initiating proactive
work helping households in need. However, prior to the announcement
of the HSF continuation, ongoing funding for the LIFT dashboard had
not been identified. It is proposed that £0.010m HSF is
allocated as a contribution towards continuing the LIFT dashboard
for a further six months, pending the identification of new
funding.
4.21
The Fairness Fund represents the council’s strong commitment
to addressing the many challenges in the Cost of Living Plan. The
intent is that the fund will be agile, allowing for immediate
crisis response, but it will also be an enabler for strategic
planning and the strengthening of the city’s welfare
infrastructure. The allocation plan provides for continuation of
support in the latter half of 2024-25 by ensuring that the
infrastructure for LDSF remains in place, and that there is basic
food support over the winter. However, with the current uncertainty
surrounding the national economic and political outlook, and the
unknown position for further funding in the October to March
period, £0.276m of the fund is reserved for allocation later
in the year. This will enable the council to respond effectively to
emerging priorities.
4.22
Note, there is a projected underspend of approximately
£0.117m from the 2023-24 HSF which can be applied to the
Easter Holiday voucher scheme as the money can be paid over to the
voucher provider before 31 March 2024 in accordance with HSF
2023-24 requirements. This meets with HSF guidance which allows a
short grace period for when the allocated amounts are redeemed
quickly after the end of the HSF period. The underspend therefore
offsets the Easter Holiday voucher cost which will be £1.278m
in total, leaving £1.161m to be funded from 2024-25 resources
as shown in the allocation table above.
4.23
An Urgency Decision taken by the Chief Finance Officer in
consultation with the Chair of Strategy, Finance & City
Regeneration Committee on 14 March 2024 has already approved the
advance allocation of £0.285m for provision of food vouchers
for the Easter Holidays, including the use of the above
carry-forward, thus ensuring that vouchers can be distributed in
time. A record of the urgency decision is provided at Appendix
3.
5.1
The Cost of Living Action Plan sets out the council’s
approach to supporting low income households through the crisis.
However, it is national government that holds the policy levers to
address many of the structural drivers of poverty and inequality in
the country. We call on national government to enter into a more
strategic relationship with local government: one focused on
empowerment to provide the freedom, flexibility and sustainable
funding streams that will enable councils to improve and join up
local service provision and raise living standards for
all.
5.2
Coordinating cost of living responses via the Action Plan enables
the council to manage potential duplication and identify gaps in
provision. Without the Action Plan, or a similar mechanism, the
council would risk having a less coherent approach both internally
and through its partnerships.
5.3
In terms of the allocation of funds, other potential breakdowns
were explored. For example, consideration was given to providing
food vouchers for all school holidays over the year (13 weeks)
rather than up to and including the Summer Holiday (9 weeks), but
this would severely deplete remaining resources and potentially
prevent nearly all other forms of priority support from being
provided. This position can be reviewed subject to further HSF
announcements later in the year.
5.4
Other options involved allocating lesser or greater amounts to all
of the other categories. However, based on the data available to
the council and its partners, the proposed allocations are
considered to deliver the optimum spread of support, and the
strongest infrastructure, whilst allowing flexibility for later in
the year when more funding may become available.
6
Community engagement and consultation
6.1
The Cost of Living Plan draws on feedback gathered during the four
month engagement programme with residents, partners and
stakeholders. 170 residents and partners responded to the
consultation or attended engagement events.
6.2
On 7 March 2024, the Welfare Support & Financial Assistance
meeting discussed the Fairness Fund and associated Household
Support Fund with a view to potential allocations and priorities
over funding. Representation at the meeting included:
·
Advice Matters
and Moneyworks Partnerships
·
Community
Works
·
Brighton and Hove
Food Partnership
·
A
range of council services
·
DWP
·
Carelink
·
East
Brighton Food Co-Op
6.3
The following themes emerged:
·
In
administering the Fairness Fund and HSF, HSF should clearly be
maximised in the first half of the year and other resources within
the Fairness Fund used judiciously to provide ongoing support
across the whole year.
·
Maintain
continuity for LDSF team – services and organisations across
the city are well aware of the route into LDSF and it is a crucial
element in terms of stabilising households while they receive
further holistic support and advice.
·
Changes to
criteria and amounts of LDSF are disruptive and confusing for other
support services in the city, e.g. if the council had to move to a
more basic voucher scheme. However, this may be
unavoidable.
·
Food
vouchers for school holidays – if unable to cover the whole
year, Summer holidays are the priority as that’s when
households are under the most pressure for a sustained
period.
·
The
cessation of the Communities Fund means that provision needs to be
made for other types of community need beyond food and fuel,
including support for grass roots groups, and enrichment and
support for marginalised groups.
·
Food
– keen to avoid a potential ‘cliff edge drop off’
of funding in September, and also to consider moving to a strategy
of longer term resilience in terms of providers of support in the
city, and supporting sustainable food models.
·
Meals
on wheels services in the city provide a vital support for
vulnerable households.
6.4
The Household Support Fund has been discussed over the last year or
so as an ongoing concern in meetings across the spectrum of Welfare
Support, including previous Welfare Support and Financial
Assistance meetings, the Mental Health and Debt Steering Group and
the Fuel Poverty and Affordable Warmth Steering Group.
7
Conclusion
7.1
Committee is asked to approve the Cost of Living Plan (Appendix 1)
as the basis for the council’s approach to addressing the
continued impacts of the ongoing cost of living crisis, and to
approve the proposed allocation of the Brighton & Hove Fairness
Fund incorporating the Household Support Fund 2024-25.
8
Financial implications
8.1
The funding sources set out in the report are based on the best
information currently available but could potentially change. In
particular £0.307m of the Fairness Fund allocation is
dependent on the 2023-24 TBM outturn position.
8.2
The report proposes delegating adjustments to HSF allocations to
the Chief Finance Officer, within the bounds of the council’s
rules for virement, where the funding available changes or there is
evidence of changing need throughout the 6-month period of the HSF,
to ensure that all of the fund is utilised.
8.3
The Government has only announced HSF funding until September 2024
and the overall position will need to be reviewed once there is
clarity as for funding beyond that date.
Finance officer
consulted: Jeff
Coates
Date consulted: 18 March 2024
9.1
It is within the council’s powers to operate the proposed
Cost of Living Action Plan. Officers will need to ensure that any
restrictions imposed by Government on the use of the Household
Support Fund are complied with.
Name of lawyer
consulted: Liz Woodley
Date consulted: 15 March 2024
10.1
The cost of living crisis has had a very broad impact, affecting
most people to some degree. However, the biggest impacts have
typically been experienced by our most vulnerable individuals and
communities, including many older people, people with disabilities
and black and racially minoritised communities. The council and
partners have sought to identify and target support at the most
vulnerable, and details of this are included in the Cost of Living
Plan (Appendix 1).
11.1
Inflationary pressures have been particularly acute in terms of
food, essentials and energy prices. Council and partner responses
have included promoting and subsidising bus travel as an
alternative to car journeys, offering people advice and support on
ways to manage their energy use, providing financial support to
help people insulate their homes, and working to install solar
panels on more than 800 council homes, significantly reducing fuel
bills for tenants. All these measures will help reduce city carbon
emissions. More detail can be found in Cost of Living
Plan.
12.1
The Cost of Living Action Plan outlines action being taken to
refresh the council’s approach to social value, including the
development of a new social value toolkit.
13
Public health implications
13.1
The Cost of Living Action Plan (Appendix 1) outlines a number of
public health initiatives to support our most vulnerable
communities.
Supporting
Documentation
Appendices
1.
Cost
of Living Action Plan
2.
Equalities Impact
Assessment
3.
Record of Urgency
Decision by the Chief Finance Officer