Tackling Poverty Financial Support Update
North Lanarkshire Council · 5 May 2023
Back to Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee — 5 May 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref AG/JC Date 05/05/23 Tackling Poverty Financial Support Update Report From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice & Integrated Practice) E-mail Gordonal@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary On 29th September 2022, the Policy and Strategy Committee approved the approaches of the use of the Council’s Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery Fund, provided by the Scottish Government for assisting residents with financial support from the recovery of Covid and with the Cost-of-Living Crisis. An update on the Financial Supports was submitted to the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 3rd February 2023. This report provides a further update of the financial support provided by the Council to assist residents with the Cost-of-Living Crisis, via the NL Child Payment, Fuel Hardship Payment and the Pensioner Fuel Grant. The report also seeks the endorsement of the redistribution of the underspend of the funds to Pensioner Fuel Grant, Scottish Welfare Fund and the Flexibility Budget for additional Tackling Poverty initiatives during the period 2023/24. Recommendations It is recommended that the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee: (1) Note the outcomes of the financial support provided to residents from the Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery Fund via the Council’s NL Child Payment, Fuel Hardship Payment and Pensioner Fuel Grant. (2) Endorse the distribution of the underspend of the funds to Pensioner Fuel grant, Scottish Welfare Fund and the Flexibility Budget for additional Tackling Poverty initiatives during 2023/24. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements
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1. Background 1.1 On 21 February 2022 the First Minister announced a new £80m Covid Economic Recovery Fund targeting support for businesses and communities with the move to a new phase in the Covid pandemic with fewer restrictions. The policy intent of this funding is to support local economic recovery and cost of living impact on low-income households. North Lanarkshire received £5.149min funding. 1.2 The Policy and Strategy Committee approved the use of these funds with additional Council funding to assist residents impacted by the Cost-of-Living Crisis on 29th September 2022. The report on the approaches to the use of these funds were also submitted to the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 4th November 2022 for the Committee information. 1.3 The Policy and Strategy Committee approved the following allocation of funds and targeted payments: • Food Poverty and Insecurity Continuation of funding to Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership £10,000. • Financial Insecurity Payments (cost of living crisis) payments in line with Low Income Pandemic Payment principles £2,000,000M A NL Child Payment: to assist residents experiencing financial insecurity due to the cost-of-living crisis, is to make a £125 payment per child who are in receipt of Free School Meals and/or School Clothing Grant, including nursery children. • Fuel Hardship Payment additional funding for fuel hardship payment to maximise the households eligible for the existing scheme £960,000. The underspend in the previous tranche of the Financial Insecurity Fund for Fuel Hardship Payments was added to the Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery Fund £960,000 for Fuel Poverty, taking the total for 2022/23 Fuel Hardship Payment to £2.161M. A Fuel Hardship Payment: targeted to assist low-income households who will only receive the £400 payment towards their energy bill from the UK Government but will not qualify for any other assistance for the cost-of-living crisis, these groups are also not eligible for the NL Child Payment. The Fuel Hardship Payment will be set at £150 per household. 1.4 The Chief Executive’s Service (Financial Solutions) was also allocated funding for tackling poverty with additional funding for Scottish Welfare Grants and Pensioner Fuel Grant for pensioners in receipt of pension credit/saving credits (£100 per Household). With Housing Solutions receiving additional funding of £363,000 for the continuation of the Tenants Hardship Rent Grant Fund. 1.5 A further update report was submitted to the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 3rd February 2023. 1.6 The Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 3rd February 2023, approved the request that Chief Officers could redistribute the funds between the strands of the Financial Supports budget in response to ongoing analysis of demand on each strand to ensure maximum impact of the funds within the priority areas approved by the Committee.
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2. Report 2.1 NL Child Payment 2.1.1 NL Child Payment is to assist residents experiencing financial insecurity due to the cost- of-living crisis, in making a £125 payment to families for each child who are in receipt of Free School Meals and/or School Clothing Grant, including nursery children. 2.1.2 The table below sets out the total amount of Children and Families who received the NL Child Payment which includes a potential up run for children and families who may meet the criteria up to 6th December 2022, from the date the payment date of 4th November 2022. NL Child Payment NLC CHILD PAYMENT - £125 No of Children No of Families Amount Paid Paid - 04/11/22 11,979 7,396 £1,497,375.00 Catch up run - paid 23/12/22 & 07/02/23 508 341 £63,500.00 12,487 7,737 £1,560,875.00 2.1.3 The above chart indicates that from the total budget for NL Child Payment (£2M), there remained an underspend of £439,125. Details of the use of underspend in each strand are detailed in section 2.10. 2.2 Fuel Hardship Payment 2.2.1 The Fuel Hardship Payment aimed at providing financial support to low-income households who would only receive the UK Government’s universal payment of £400 to all households in the UK, was launched on the week beginning 10th October 2022. 2.2.2 There has been a significant communications campaign by Corporate Communications to encourage take up of the payment for low-income households since the launch of the scheme. At the end of January 2023, the application page for the Fuel Hardship Payment had been landed on over 570,000 times. However, the actual applications made for the payment is only slightly above 1% of the landings on the application page. (See, table below at 2.2.4) 2.2.3 Due to lower than anticipated initial take up and following discussions between lead officers, it was agreed that the period for applications to the scheme, originally scheduled to end in December 2022 be extended to 31st March 2023 in alignment with the UK Government’s financial support for energy assistance.
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2.2.4 The table below outlines the applications/payments made to date so far: Fuel Hardship Payments FUEL HARDSHIP PAYMENT - £150 Applications Received 6,295 Duplicate Applications 106 Total Applications Received 6,189 Paid 3,549 £532,350.00 Ready for Payment (Next Payment Run) 23 £3,450.00 Awaiting Further Info 11 Rejected 2,606 Status 6,189 Total Paid & Waiting to be Paid 3,572 £535,800.00 Outstanding to be Assessed 0 2.3 Pensioner Fuel Grant 2.3.1 In February 2022, the budget agreed by the Council included a grant for pensioners on low income to help mitigate the costs of higher fuel bills (two payments of £50). This would support those on pension credit (guarantee) and pension credit (savings). The initial assessment made in February 2022, was an estimate of a cohort of around 4,750 pensioners who met the criteria, resulting in £475,000 being allocated for this payment. 2.3.2 Following consultation and agreement with the Chief Officer (Finance), the scheme eligibility was updated to ensure that pensioners in receipt of either Pension Credit (Savings) or Pension Credit (Guarantee) receive the £100 Pensioner Fuel Grant (a total of around 8,700 households). 2.3.3 The Council already holds details of eligibility, there is no application process for the scheme. Households were written to in December informing them of their eligibility for the Grant. Where the Council has bank account details for the household (i.e., they pay their Council Tax by Direct Debit), the payment was made directly to their bank account in week commencing 19 December 2022. Where bank account details are not held, the letter included a bank mandate asking eligible households to provide their bank account and sort code either by email or by return in a prepaid envelope to allow the payment to be made directly to their bank account.
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PENSIONER FUEL HARDSHIP SCHEME - £100 No of Households Value Bank Details Held - Paid 16/12/22 3,804 £380,400.00 Bank Details Collected & Paid 4,040 £404,000.00 Awaiting Payment (Next Payment Run) 42 £4,200.00 Rejected (Payment Returned – pension now deceased) 13 £1,300.00 Awaiting Further Action (e.g. bank detail confirmation required) 146 £14,600.00 8,045 £804,500.00 No Response Cases 515 8,560 Reminder Letters Issued 27/02/2023 1,629 2.4 Scottish Welfare Fund - £1.759m Allocation of additional support to Scottish Welfare Fund to ensure additional demand can be met and priority level retained at ‘medium’ during 2022/23. Throughout 2022/23 the Finance service has seen an increase of 7% in applications received and an increase in 8% of applications approved. In addition, with the priority remaining at ‘medium’ throughout the financial year the average costs of each approved grant have increased too. As a result, the full core budget and additional funding have been utilised in full. 2.5 Tenant Hardship Rent Grant Fund - £363,000 This fund provided financial support and advice to tenants in order, to sustain tenancies and prevent homelessness. It was aimed at NLC tenants who were in arrears and were experiencing financial hardship due to the increase in the cost of living/rising costs of fuel. Assistance with outstanding rental payments was provided which allowed tenants on low incomes to address other financial priorities and also allow officers to provide financial assessments and advice at point of contact/application. The maximum payment was £1,500 and it was not refundable, 384 NLC Tenants were assisted to the value of £363,000. 2.6 School and Early Years Clothing Grants - £300,000 Continuation of enhanced grant value for school aged pupils and NLC scheme for early years children during 2022/23. 2.7 Free School Meal Holiday Payments - £1.555m Continuation of SG’s support to families in receipt of free school meal during holiday periods. Confirmed until April 23 payment total £150 split across holiday periods. 2.8 Other Payments 2.8.1 Food Poverty and Insecurity Continuation of funding to Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership £10,000, has been drawn down by Lanarkshire Community Food and
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Health Partnership, to provide food provision to residents, Foodbanks, and other Food Initiatives. 2.9 Cost of Living Helpline 2.9.1 In the Cost-of-Living report submitted to the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 3rd February 2023, reference was made to the Tackling Poverty Team being enhanced to deliver the Cost-of-Living Helpline for the next 24 months on behalf of the Council. 2.9.2 The table below sets out to date, the activity of the Helpline, since 30th November 2022 to 31st March 2023; No. of Calls received via Netcall 4729 Referrals Via Phone 1558 Referrals via DWP Correspondence 27 Referrals Via Mailbox 2045 3630 Reason for Referral Welfare Rights 3160 Debt Advice 470 3630 2.9.3 The three main reasons for contacting the Cost-of-Living Helpline are for income maximisation (Social Security Benefits), food insecurity and fuel insecurity. 2.10 Redistribution of Budget 2.10.1 The Chart below outlines the spend of the total Financial Support Budget. Actual Expenditure @ 31/03/23 Budget Current variance £ £ £ NL Child Payment 1,560,875.00 2,000,000.00 439,125.00 Fuel Hardship Payment: Old scheme 248,700.00 251,000.00 2,300.00 New scheme 535,800.00 2,161,000.00 1,625,200 Total 2,345,375.00 4,412,000.00 2,066,625 Pensioner Fuel Grant 804,500.00 475,000.00 (329,500) 2.10.2 Of the total budgets for Financial Supports £4,412,000, £2,345,375 has been spent via the different strands, as at 31st March 2023, which results in an underspend of £2,066,625. These figures and underspend have the potential to change following the year end position of the Funds.
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2.10.3 In line with the delegation agreed at the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee on 3rd February 2023, at a meeting on 20th March 2023, the Convener of the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee, the Chief Officer for Social Work and Chief Officer for Finance, it was agreed to redistribute the underspend to the following strands: 2.10.4 Pensioner Fuel Grant - £329,500 - to meet the additional costs of the earlier decision to extend this payment to those on either Pension Credit (Savings) or Pension Credit (Guarantee) 2.10.5 Scottish Welfare Fund - £1,487,125 - to ensure the Council can meet increasing demand for Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants and ensure they’re assessed at medium priority level throughout 2023/24. As highlighted in paragraph 2.4, the Council has experienced an increase in applications and an increase in the value of awards throughout 2022/23. Without additional funding the Council would be required to move to the ‘high and most compelling’ priority level. Under this rating, in order or be successful applicant’s needs would need to be judged to be immediate and extremely severe, the applicant would need to be highly vulnerable and at immediate risk and there would need to be significant and immediate adverse consequences if the item or money is not provided. 2.10.6 Flexibility Fund for Tackling Poverty Initiatives - £250,000. This will provide a budget to support additional initiatives to Tackle Poverty in the coming year in response to emerging priority areas. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The successful delivery of Financial Support to the residents of North Lanarkshire impacted by the Cost-of-Living Crisis. 4. Supporting documentation N/A Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice & Integrated Practice)
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The endorsement within the report allow for the realigning of some of the LACER funding across the priority areas previously identified however demands will continue to be met from the overall LACER budget allocation from Scottish Government. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
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5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? A communication plan is in place under the umbrella of the Cost of Living actions. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? There is a risk that underspends in some areas of the fund could dilute impact and create reputational damage given the context of a cost-of-living crisis but this is mitigated by the realignment of funds to other priority areas extending the impact of funds into 2023/24.
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5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.