Decision details

The Council currently budgets to spend £0.807m providing discretionary assistance to households in crisis situations through the Local Assistance Network (LAN).  The LAN is delivered through a partnership with voluntary sector agencies which provide non cash based assistance, very largely on an ‘in kind’ basis, to households facing hardship as a result of a crisis or emergency. 

The scheme was launched in 2013 when funding for discretionary welfare provision was transferred from the benefits system to local government and ‘ring-fenced’ for this purpose.  Given that this funding no longer exists the cost of the LAN falls entirely on the Council’s base budget.  In the current financial context it is not considered sustainable to maintain expenditure on the LAN at the current level and a significant reduction is therefore being proposed. A period of engagement will begin to gather evidence to inform a further Cabinet Member decision in the context of an impact assessment and to establish the priorities for the use of this funding going forward.

The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health has approved a process of engagement with providers and stakeholders, which may result in a reduction in the budget for the LAN to £200,000 per annum from 2019/20 onwards. 

None