Issue details

In the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget Statement, it was announced there would be a fourth round of the Household Support Fund to cover the period from April 2023 to March 2024, with a further £1 billion (£842m for England) being released to councils, to support those most in need with the cost of food, energy and water bills, phone, broadband and clothing and in exceptional cases, housing costs.
Due to the late release of government guidance and the impending May holidays, the Council will use a proportion of the £8m grant, to assist 22,600 Free School Meal/Pupil Premium children during this period, by awarding a £15 voucher in respect of each child. The spend accounts for £340k of the allocation for this week only. This commitment is in line with previous support provided to these children for most school holidays since October 2020, by Bristol City Council.
The contract supplier has been chosen using the CSS framework and is a continuation of an existing and well-established good quality provision by them. A full procurement process will be in place for any future spend in this area and is included in the May Cabinet report. This OED is to enable a ‘bridging’ contract to allow for food vouchers to be in place and distributed before 26 May 2023.