Minutes

24      COVID LOCAL SUPPORT GRANT - The Directors: Learning, Skills and Culture and Children and Community Resilience submitted a joint report seeking approval to extend the COVID Local Support Grant (replaces the COVID Winter Support Grant).

The council recognised the impact that COVID-19 has had on families in many different ways and had in place a range of financial support mechanisms for households on low incomes.

During the past year decisions had been made to support children and families by offering Free School Meals over school holiday periods, funded primarily through the Covid Winter Grant Scheme which ceased on 16 April 2021.

On 14 April 2021, the Department for Work and Pensions announced details of the Covid Local Support Grant.  North Lincolnshire had been awarded a further £125,310 to provide support for vulnerable families until 20 June 2021.  Given the continuation of the eligibility criteria, the proposal was to use the additional funding to provide food vouchers over the summer half term.

A representative group of school leaders and head teachers had been consulted about these proposals, expressing strong support for the council’s local approach. Widening provision for vulnerable families with pre-school children and those in college had helped to target those that needed the most support.

Resolved – That the voucher provision be continued up to and including the summer half term, as set out in the report.