Agenda item

That the policy for Local Welfare Provision 2019-20 as set out in Appendix D to the report be approved.

The Lead Member for Corporate Finance & Housing introduced a report that sought approval for the revised Council policy for Local Welfare Provision (LWP) in 2019/20.

LWP provided support such as vouchers for food and essential purchases to people when they were experiencing extreme financial difficulties and hardship.  Schemes had initially been funded by the Department for Work & Pensions until 2016 but in recent years local authorities had to support them from their own resources if they decided to continue with them.  The Cabinet noted recent data from the Centre for Responsible Credit that 26 authorities had scrapped their schemes entirely and many others had reduced funding substantially.  It was proposed that Slough’s scheme be maintained at the current level of £300,000 for 2019/20 and the details of the scheme were set out in the appendix to the report.

Lead Members reviewed the operation of the scheme in the past year and it was noted that the number of claims had risen slightly since the previous year.  A total of 1,662 applications had been received between April 2018 to January 2019 of which 1,232 had been approved.  The impact of Universal Credit was discussed and it was reported that there had been an increase in the number of people requesting help with their day to day living costs, primarily as they were waiting for their payment.

Members asked whether the funding available was sufficient to meet the demand for support.  The spend for 2018-19 was in line with the budget and the Cabinet had previously agreed a contingency reserve although it had not been necessary to utilise it so far.  The level of funding proposed was therefore considered to be sufficient although the position was continually reviewed.

The Cabinet agreed the importance of continuing to support its most vulnerable residents at times of hardship, particularly given the pressures faced by many people from the roll out of Universal Credit.  The LWP policy as at Appendix D to the report was agreed.

Resolved –  That the policy for Local Welfare Provision 2019-20 as set out in Appendix D to the report be approved.