Agenda item
Food Pantry Programme Funding – Family Action
- Meeting of Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-Committee, Wednesday, 12th January, 2022 5.30 p.m. (Item 6.4)
- View the background to item 6.4
Minutes:
Vincent Wood, (Food Security Officer) and Dominic Hinde, (Tackling Poverty Team Leader) presented the report.
This report relates to the approval of a grant of £96,364 to Family Action to fund the provision of six food pantries in Tower Hamlets from the Mayor’s Covid Recovery Fund.
The officers highlighted the key features of the scheme including:
· An overview of the food pantry model
· The key benefits of the proposals to tackle food poverty as well as bolster other forms of support that should help combat poverty and combat isolation.
· It was proposed to that the pantries would open in two cohorts, with three ready to launch immediately.
· The appendix detailed the proposed pantry locations.
· It was proposed to select Family Action to deliver the project for the reasons highlighted in the report - relating to Family Action’s existing provision in the borough and the scalability of their model.
· This will make up the first phase of the rollout of the pantry programme, with the rest of sites to be offered to local voluntary organisations as part of an open bidding process.
The Sub – Committee noted the questions submitted on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding the following:
· The approach to the bidding process. Officers explained in further details the reasons for selecting Family Action (due to for example to the fact they already ran successful sites in the Borough/their track record/sustainability and cost issues, as well as other issues)
· Contingency arrangements – in case of an oversubscription. Officers advised that they were mindful of these issues. They will continue to work with relevant groups, to identify residents that needed support and should be referred, and it was hoped in the long term to increase the capacity of the service to cater for more people.
The Committee discussed a number of issues as set out below:
· The referrals process. Members noted the plans to work with such groups as Mosques. Clarity was sought on the Comms plan so that those most in need were aware of the support and could be referred. In response, it was noted that the sites would be locally based with a strong focus on engaging with the local community. They would ‘tap into’ local assets. The Council also collected poverty data from a dash board and may make referrals based on this.
· Lessons leant from the pandemic and the data gained so far on the success of the project. It was noted that the pilots showed that the projects had been very successful in reducing poverty and debt. Officers were also looking at developing a new monitoring system for tracking the success of scheme.
· The sustainability of the project and the risks to the Council. Officers advised of the benefits of the proposed funding arrangements including the proposals to charge a membership fee. It was also noted that Family Action will also seek external funding and would fundraise themselves if necessary to fully cover the provision and would work to ensure that the project was delivered on time. They had agreed to this.
RESOLVED:
1. Authorise the Corporate Director Place to issue a formal offer of grant to Family Action to a maximum of £96,364 to fund the provision of six food pantries to run for a period of at least 2.5 years;
2. Delegate the Corporate Director Place the power to authorise the execution of any agreements necessary to give effect to resolution 1;
3. Note the specific equalities considerations as set out in Section 4 of the report
Supporting documents: