Agenda and minutes

To be notified of the appointment of substitute Members.

Pursuant to the council’s constitution the appointment of the following substitute members was made:

Councillor L Bones for Councillor C Johnsson.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

You are also requested to complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

Councillor O’Keefe declared a non-registerable personal interest in Item 5: as she is a North Tyneside Council tenant; and in Item 6: as an employee that worked for a provider who had received the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 September 2023.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2023 be agreed and signed by the Chair.

To present the Members with an update on the support packages available to Council Tenants.

The Secure Sub-committee received an update briefing note which provided an overview of the support packages available to Council tenants included in the Tenancy and Financial Support Project 2023-2026.

The sub-committee was informed that in response to the ongoing issues that were impacting on the financial circumstances of North Tyneside Council tenants, Cabinet had agreed a financial support package (Tenants Support Fund) covering the three-year period 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. The package totalled £3.00m over the three-year period (£1.2m first year, £1.00m second year & £0.77m third year). This generous package recognised the impact that the current cost of living crisis was having on the Authority’s tenants. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) would be funding the package, so it was specifically for Housing tenants only.

There was a clear policy commitment in the Our North Tyneside Plan to tackle inequalities and the Equally Well Strategy provided a framework for doing this in relation to providing a healthy standard of living for all. A key factor in supporting tenants, and their families, to deal with the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis and in creating sustainable tenancies was to improve the financial capability and confidence of tenants to enable them to live and flourish in their homes.

The Authority knew from experience that by taking the time to engage with and gain the trust of customers, by having an honest discussion with them, the Authorty could identify the underlying issues that were impacting on their ability to sustain their tenancy and thrive in the current economic climate. Once this was done, the Authority could collaborate with the tenants to help improve their money management and budgeting skills, maximise their income and help them make the right decisions for their housing and financial circumstances.

This briefing note and its appendices described how the Authority was going to use the Tenants Support Fund to help target those in most need through - Existing Support; The Business Approach; Targets; Debt Management; Tenancy and Financial Support Service;  Tenancy Support, Financial Inclusion, Money, and Debt Management; and Additional Specialist Support including - Energy Efficiency, and Specialist Debt Management.

In addition to the help and support available to all residents that was detailed on the Council’s website via the web link below; the Authority’s Tenancy Support Service worked with housing tenants to help sustain their tenancies:

https://my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/1652/cost-living-support

During discussions, Members examined a number of areas, including: 

The processes in place for tenants seeking support by contacting the Authority, Housing officers, Ward briefings, GPs etc.:  It was explained that people in need of support should be brought to the attention of housing teams who will have a proactive approach involving an Initial triage and how an individual’s circumstances could be addressed e.g., debt worries. Next steps included identifying the relevant skills and knowledge of staff in order to build a rapport with tenants. Other support options for consideration could be a door knocking process and referrals such as cost of living type enquiries.

Contingencies in place by the Authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16/23

To present details of North Tyneside Council’s cost of living support.

The Secure Sub-committee received a report which provided an overview of the support available or planned for residents and tenants to help address the current cost of living increase.

The sub-committee was informed that since June 2020, the Authority’s Poverty Intervention Fund and other grant funding from Government (Covid Winter Grant and the Household Support Fund) had helped to alleviate the financial, social and health impacts of poverty for families and individuals across the borough through:

·       Tackling holiday hunger by continuing to provide supermarket vouchers directly to families who are eligible for free school meals during every school holiday since December 2020 – this is £15 per week per eligible child going directly to families; and 

·       Support for school uniform or clothing through increased the number of schools which have been supported to develop their uniform policies to encourage more recycling and swapping with nineteen schools now on board. A list of schools including those involved in these schemes were available on the cost-of-living pages on the North Tyneside website.

School staff had reported that they wanted to learn more about what opportunities there were out there to help families. To support this work, the Authority held its first Uniform Summit in March 2023 to share good practice between schools. Poverty proofing the School Day was a programme designed to identify barriers faced by children living in poverty when engaging with school life and to help alleviate these. As of May 2023, 34 schools in North Tyneside had completed this process. The support around schools had continued and contributed toward the North of Tyne Combined Authority Child Poverty Prevention Programme.

Since Easter 2021 the Authority’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme had supported children and young people eligible for income related free school meals to have access to meals and different activities delivered through a broad range of voluntary and community sector partners across the borough. During summer 2023, match funding of £46,000 expanded the reach of HAF to allow more children to access the programme from low-income households who would have been otherwise ineligible. Over £500,000 funding was given to VCSE organisations to deliver activities within the community. 2048 children had taken part in the summer programme.

Direct financial support to people who struggled to pay their bills was provided through the Council Tax support (CTS) scheme which helps around 16,000 household pay their Council Tax bill; a Hardship Payment reduction of £25.00 for pensionable age claimants and £150.00 for working age claimants of CTS against their Council Tax bill;  support for housing costs via Housing Benefit and Discretionary Housing Payments; Healthy Start Scheme vouchers for pregnant women and children under four in eligible low income families – to be used on milk, baby formula milk and certain foods as well as free vitamin supplements; Household Support Grant payments to support the costs of food and utilities plus items linked to these costs; and the welfare assistance scheme to provide help with the food (via the food bank)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/23

To consider priorities for inclusion in the work programme for 2023-24.

The Chair encouraged Members of the sub-committee to put forward any ideas they may have for suggested topics for inclusion in the work programme for the remainder of the year.

Monday, 29 January 2024 at 6.00pm.

6.00pm on Monday 29 January 2024.