Agenda item

EMERGENCY WELFARE SUPPORT (SOCIAL FUND)

The panel will receive an update in respect of the Emergency Welfare Support Fund.

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Councillor Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Cooperatives and Community Development, and Ann Thorpe, Service Manager, who were in attendance to provide an update on progress with delivery of the Emergency and Welfare Fund (EWF) following its implementation in April 2013.  Highlights of the report included –

 

·         because of the lack of information available from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about allocations made under the previous scheme,  it had been difficult to predict demand for the EWF and this had therefore resulted in the scheme being limited in terms of the scope and level of award;

·         better promotion of the scheme had been undertaken with staff working closely with colleagues internally and partners externally to target those likely to be in need of support, this including working with Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) to promote switching to cheaper energy providers;

·         a series of measures funded from the EWF had been agreed by Councillor Penberthy; 

·         customers were now provided with payments by BACS in order to secure white goods for themselves;

·         10,710 calls had been received since April 2013 with a significant increase since September;

·         despite a slow take-up, spend projections indicated that the 2013/14 budget was now on track to be fully allocated.

 

In response to questions raised, Members were advised that –

 

(a)

 

the Government had recently announced that funding for the social fund replacement scheme would be cut from 2014/15.  Consideration was being given to deliver the scheme for a further three years, operating on a reduced budget by being more creative with the money and focussing on prevention and early intervention work;

 

(b)

 

over 600 people in the City were waiting to downsize as a result of the impact of the bedroom tax.  Those were being rebated as quickly as possible at an average cost of £500 each, however, this money was not coming out of the EWF;

 

(c)

 

the EWF was not designed to help support care leavers and it was not possible to keep the current system going without financial support from the Government.  The Council was currently looking at alternative ways of providing white goods for care leavers;

 

(d)

 

further clarification on the number of posts in place to support the EWF and how they were being funded would be provided to the panel;

 

(e)

 

a fund for Medical Assessments and Disclosure and Barring Service Checks to assist people in accessing benefits and getting them back into work had been established where employers were asking the employee to pay;

 

(f)

 

consideration was being given to the Council offering a payday loan service for some payments through one of  the City’s credit unions.  This was being done in London by a credit union who was offering a interest rate of thirty per cent, however, this was not something that Plymouth’s credit unions felt they were currently able to take on alone;

 

(g)

 

credit reference checks would identify a person’s level of borrowing and any borrowing requests, including any payday loans applied for.

 

The panel welcomed the update and the Chair congratulated the officers on how the EWF was being successfully managed.

 

Agreed that –

 

(1)

 

a report into the actions being taken to explore provision of white goods for care leavers following removal of funding from Central Government without consultation will be submitted to a future meeting of the panel;

 

(2)

 

the Cabinet Member for Cooperative and Community Development discusses with officers the possible implications of ‘naming’ and ‘shaming’ employers who were refusing to pay for employees Medical Assessments and D Disclosure and Barring Service Checks.

 

(Mr S Meakin declared a personal interest in respect of the above item).

 

(Councillor Ricketts left the meeting after consideration of the above item).

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