Decision details

With the approval of the Chairman of the Communities Scrutiny Committee, the urgency procedure, special urgency procedure, and waiver of call-in procedure have been invoked to suspend the requirement to publish notice of the decision for 28 days, to suspend the requirement to publish the decision for five days, and to suspend the three day call-in period.

The Cabinet Member agreed the following:

1.    The design and delivery model for the Peterborough Household Support Fund, funded by the unallocated balance of the grant received from Government, namely £1,133,516 (from a total award of £1,824,636)

2.    To delegate to the Service Director for Communities and Partnerships, the allocation of up to 10% of the total award (£182,463) to support administrative costs for the Fund and the resource costs of trusted partner organisations. 

3.    To waive the procurement process relating to the Household Support Fund as outlined in section 3.9.

4.    To approve the procurement of services from Family Fund, Charis and AO as outlined in section 3.9.

The council has been awarded the funded by Government with a strict set of criteria on how funding can be spent.  The scheme proposed is based upon similar schemes delivered by the council over the last year in response to the challenges faced by communities in dealing with the impacts of Covid.  Families are also faced with rising fuel and food costs whilst continuing to recover from the consequences of Covid and the effect that has had on the local and national economy.

Alternative models of delivery have been set out in the report.  There is always the option of not delivering the support fund, however this would have a significant and detrimental impact on individuals and families across Peterborough as they struggle with increased costs this winter.