Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Public Health, Inequalities & Community Safety

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/069

Contact: Paul Wilding, Programme Manager (Cost of Living),

Report by Executive Director of People (CA8)

This item is not subject to Call-in.  The Chair of the Council has agreed that in all the circumstances the decision should be treated as a matter of urgency. A decision will be urgent if any delay likely to be caused by the call in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the public’s interests. (Part 6.2 Overview & Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules, paragraph 20(a)).

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a)           Note the cost-of-living support measures delivered during 2023/24, as summarised in table 1;

b)           Agree to the support package for 2024/25, as summarised in table 3;

c)           Delegate authority to the Programme Director (Partnerships & Delivery) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, to amend the programme during the year in response to changing and emerging need, within the overall programme budget.

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet had before it a report setting out the intended approach to support those residents who are most negatively impacted by cost-of-living pressures over the current financial year, assigning additional funding provided by national government after local 2024/25 budget setting processes, in the context of locally assigned funding. It provided the latest position on the impact of the cost of living, as well as providing a summary outturn report on the 2023/24 support programme. In March 2024 the government announced a fifth round of the Household Support Fund running for the first six months of 2024/25. Oxfordshire’s allocation was £3,361,256.

Councillor Dr Nathan Ley, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, presented the report and gave details of the proposed allocation of the funding across various services.

During discussion members made the following points:-

·       The need for continued funding for free school meals during school holidays

·       Concerns about the late notification of the funding from central Government

·       The importance of these financial interventions in providing support to residents during cost-of-living pressures and to ensure that they were targeted appropriately

·       Members commended the work by officers and proposals set out in the report but reiterated the need for the Council to tackle the underlying problem of inequality and that this should continue to be a fundamental element of the Council’s strategic objectives going forward

Councillor Ley moved and Councillor Bearder seconded the recommendations, and they were approved.

RESOLVED to

a)             note the cost-of-living support measures delivered during 2023/24, as summarised in table 1;

b)             agree to the support package for 2024/25, as summarised in table 3;

c)               delegate authority to the Programme Director (Partnerships & Delivery) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, to amend the programme during the year in response to changing and emerging need, within the overall programme budget.