Decision details

The report was introduced by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources, Councillor Ross Henley.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·         The seconder, Cllr Smith-Roberts commended the cross-district working involved with Sedgemoor District Council to ensure consistency.

·         Following a query on the take-up officers confirmed that the mandatory element of the scheme had seen 82 successful applications and 81 discretionary applications which was considered comparatively low as Government had predicted

·         Clarity was sought on the eligibility for multiple payments per household?

·         Officers confirmed that the initial discretionary scheme did allow for more than one payment per household however, due to the very limited funding for this, when extra funding for the discretionary scheme was received, it was decided to tighten up the eligibility to a single household.

·         The Chair of Scrutiny stated that he had been consulted before the emergency decision had been made and was glad that the officers were able to get this launched so quickly in the circumstances.

RESOLVED that the Council noted the urgent decision made, relating to agreeing the eligibility criteria for the discretionary element of the Test and Trace Payment Scheme recently introduced by Government to support the response to the Covid 19 crisis.