Decision details

Due to the ongoing public health emergency the County Council has received a number of support packages from Central Government.  As funds are received the Council needs to determine arrangements to distribute, allocate or make other preparations for the appropriate use of funds received.

The government announced on 6 October 2021 that a new Household Support Fund (HSF) grant of £500m would be made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to support those most in need this winter.  The County Council’s share of the grant amounts to £4,870,362.11 which covers the period from 06 October 2021 until the 31 March 2022 inclusive.

At least fifty percent of the total funding must be spent on families with children. In terms of the type of support, the expectation is that the Household Support Fund should primarily be used to support households in the most need with food, energy and water bills. It can also be used to support households with essential costs related to those items and with wider essential costs. In exceptional cases of genuine emergency, it can additionally be used to support housing costs where existing housing support schemes do not meet this exceptional need. This report explains how the funds will be administered.

The Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue has approved;

(1)   the allocations from the Household Support Fund and arrangements for distribution and support  set out in Section 2 of the report to include a review at the end of December 2021;

(2)   that West Sussex County Council works in line with government guidance and applies the agreed criteria to support residents experiencing hardship in partnership with District and Boroughs;

(3)   that the council widens the range of organisations providing support via the Household Support Fund if significant sums remain available at the end of December 2021 due to low demand; and

(4)   the Director of Communities, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Support Services, is authorised to rebalance the allocation according to greatest need in the event that the funds allocated under school voucher schemes prove insufficient and otherwise to administer the allocations following the review in January 2022. 

None.