Decision details

In April 2022, the Government announced further monies would be made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities through the Household Support Fund (HSF) Grant, which is intended to support those most in need and help with significantly rising living costs.  This follows previous funding made available when the HSF was set up in Autumn 2021; the Cabinet Member for Community Support and Fire and Rescue approved the arrangements for distribution of the County Council’s allocation of this funding in December 2021 (decision CSFR02 21/22 refers).

Further to the announcement in April the County Council has been  awarded £4,870,362.11 of HSF this covers the period April 2022 – Sept 2022. 

The Assistant Director (Communities)  will be asked to agree the distribution of funds within the parameters set out in the grant determination letter and approve the award of contract to a retail voucher scheme provider (following a compliant procurement process) that will support the distribution of some of the funds covered by the Household Support Fund Grant.

The Assistant Director (Communities) has approved that;

(1)       the Household Support Funding be distributed as set out in section 2 of this report, in line with Government guidance and subject to Government grant conditions, to support residents experiencing hardship, working in partnership with District and Borough councils;

(2)       the allocation of funds be rebalanced according to the greatest need, in consultation with the Director of Finance, in the event that significant sums are available after July 2022 for any reason including additional allocations of  Grant Funding and be reported through the Performance and Resources Report; and

(3)       the award of contract to Wonde Limited (Company number 08645640) with a capped value of £10m over the contract term to administer an electronic voucher scheme with vouchers redeemable across a broad range of grocery and non-grocery retailers relevant to the West Sussex area.

None.