| State the Delegated Authority that you are relying on in order to make the decision | Following approval at the Individual Executive Meeting on the 12 October 2020, delegated authority to approve modifications to the Test and Trace Discretionary Payments Scheme was given to the Section 151 Officer. Outlined below are additional amends to the Test and Trace Discretionary Payments Scheme. Executive Report and Policy attached. |
| Subject of decision | Central Government announced that from 28 September 2020, there will be a new legal duty on all who test positive for Covid 19 or are identified by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact requiring them to self-isolate. The discretionary scheme was introduced to provide financial support for residents who are required to self-isolate. All Local Authorities were requested to have in place by 12 October 2020 a discretionary scheme which was intended to support the standard scheme. Due to limited funding there was a strict eligibility criteria. The scheme has been running for some weeks and as the numbers qualifying are less than anticipated, some small amends to the policy are necessary to ensure the funding is spent. |
| Text of decision | In addition a further £150k will be added to the Test and Trace Discretionary Payments fund. Consequently the changes to the scheme will allow additional awards. The following eligibility criteria should be read in addition to those in the existing Test and Trace Discretionary Payments Scheme – policy attached. The additional eligibility criteria are effective from 1 November 2020. • The applicant who is self-isolating is not in receipt of a qualifying benefit at the time of making a request for the Test and Trace Discretionary Payment but subsequently qualifies and this is backdated to cover the period of isolation. • The applicant who is self-isolating, for the period of self-isolation, has no income coming into the household who may or may not have children and have less than £1000.00 in savings. • The applicant has had a significant reduction in earnings of more than 50% and has savings of £500.00 or less and may or may not have children. • The scheme will run until 31 January 2021 or until the funding available has been fully committed. |
| Reason for decision | The number of applicants qualifying for a discretionary test and trace payment is not in line with anticipated expectations, and as such the amends are necessary to ensure the funding is spent. |
| Other options considered (if any) | N/A |
| Has an Impact Assessment been carried out - if so please attach a copy to the decision using the upload attachment screen which follows | No |
| Declarations of Interest by any member or relevant local government body | N/A |
| Who have you consulted as part of the decision making process | N/A |
| Date of decision | 11 November 2020 |
| Service area | Finance |
| Name of Delegated Officer making the decision - i | Mr Ian Wright, Finance Director and Section 151 Officer. |
| Name of the Officer making the decision - If power has been sub-delegated to another officer | N/A |
| Issue date:- | 16 November 2020 by Bernie Carr |
| Creation date:- | 16 November 2020 08:19:18 by Bernie Carr |
| Background paper/Impact Assessments | Copy of Delegated Decision Form (124K/bytes) Copy of Executive report - 12 October 2020 (2M/bytes) Copy of Test and Trace Discretionary Payments Scheme (60K/bytes) |