Hampshire County Council Local Welfare Provision

Dan Stoneman Commissioning Officer HCC

Local Welfare Provision: Background

 From April 2013 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be abolishing Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans  Money used for these purposes is now transferring to Local Authorities to design new Local Welfare Provision (LWP)

Local Welfare Provision: Expectations

 The DWP transferred the money to Local Authorities (LA); – – with no ring fence for the funding with no statutory duty for how the money should be spent – – with no expectation that existing support is replicated with no expectation that current users are continued to be supported under new LWP

Local Welfare Provision: Expectations

 LWP is; – to be implemented locally – – – to be used to support the most vulnerable members of communities to be used to tackle the underlying reasons for crisis to do this with reduced levels of funding and at a time of austerity, high unemployment and wider welfare reforms

Local Welfare Provision: Hampshire’s Vision

 Provide more comprehensive information and advice to enable individuals to cope and manage with challenging times and potential crisis  Develop access to, and opportunities for, individuals to receive (better) practical support from existing services including the provision of expert information and advice  Provide access to goods and cash to support individuals and families in exceptional circumstances through working with local services and providers

Local Welfare Provision: Hampshire is not….

 Remotely processing applications for goods, cash or services  Providing Loans  Setting eligibility criteria in terms of specific groups of individuals  Giving goods, cash or services to people without appropriate support

Local Welfare Provision: Long Term Strategy

 To develop sustainable responses to evidenced demand  To remove the likelihood of dependency created by a system that responds with cash or goods alone  To reduce the culture of expectation  To better support community development to respond to local issues  To make best use of a cash limited fund

Local Welfare Provision: Short Term Strategy

 Information and Advice   Develop pages on Hants Web Support information provided by key organisations – HCC / JCP / DWP and CAB  Develop relationship with Hampshire Advice Network  Commission a Contact Point for telephone referrals and signposting  Stand alone web based information  Support professionals through guidance and information packs to know where to get help

Local Welfare Provision: Short Term Strategy

 Provider Network  Map local provider networks – who is out there?

 Support appropriate referrals into the right network provider or service  Enable the providers to access additional resources where necessary to support people they are working with – Memorandum of Understanding  Collect data and information about levels of demand and common issues – to enable future development

Local Welfare Provision: Short Term Strategy

 Cash / Goods / Vouchers  Targeting resources to specific departments internally that deal with most vulnerable groups  Providing local provider networks with access to vouchers in extreme cases via a dedicated phone number  Developing local capacity – food banks and Furniture re use  Working with external organisations to understand specific demand and appropriate responses

Local Welfare Provision: Next Steps

  March 2013 – – – – Communication for public Guidance for professionals Local Network information Web based information available April 2013 – – – – Contact Point Live Money lodged with partners Fulfilment centre up and running Begin collecting data for future development

Questions: Contact Details

Dan Stoneman – [email protected]

 Commissioning Officer HCC  Tel: 07714153316 Plum Garland – [email protected]

 Service Development Officer – LWP  Tel: 07880 380175 Hampshire County Council, E2 Court West, 3rd floor, The Castle, Winchester S023 8UQ