Decision details

On 1st March 2022 the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) published details of the ADULT SOCIAL CARE OMICRON SUPPORT FUND.  This was the final specific ASC Covid funding stream.

Surrey County Council (SCC) has received £1m of Omicron Support Fund monies.  Funding was provided so that “Local authorities have discretion to use the funding as needed locally, to support the adult social care sector, including relevant local authority staff, in its COVID-19 response, and in particular increased challenges posed by the Omicron variant”.

The funding was unringfenced and did not have to be spent within a set period.  When the funding was received, the Council was paying out the final allocations of the Infection Control and Testing Fund 3 and Recruitment & Retention Fund round 2 funding streams to ASC providers.  It was agreed therefore that Omicron Support Fund monies would be retained on the balance sheet so they could be utilised to support ASC providers in the early part of the 2022/23 financial year.

As with all previous Covid grant funding streams, the Council consulted with the Surrey Care Association to seek views on the best way to dispense the limited grant funds across Surrey’s broad ASC provider base.  Following this consultation the Adults Leadership Team determined that given this funding stream is unringfenced it would be most appropriate to invite all ASC providers to bid for funds against a set of criteria.  Providers were invited to submit applications for a funding allocation towards:

•The cost of staff sickness in April 2022.

•Hardship payments to pass onto staff members who have suffered loss of earnings due to sickness and/or the need to self-isolate.

•The cost of facilitating safe visiting in April 2022, with the option to submit a claim for the period May-June 2022 as well if funds could accommodate.

•Other cost pressures caused by the pandemic in April 2022, with the option to submit a claim for the period May-June 2022 as well if funds could accommodate.

Due to the limited value of grant funds, a decision was taken to prioritise funding for providers who provide services to residents whose care is funded by the Council.  This was made clear on the application form.

An online form was prepared to gather applications and this form was sent to providers on 20th May 2022 inviting them to apply with a deadline of 10th June 2022.

Applications were received from 165 providers, totalling £3.1m.

It was agreed in the delegated decision report “Use of Local Authority Framework/ Practical Support for those Self isolating grant funding” 26th July 2021, that SCC would make the full value Practical Support grant available to Surrey’s 11 District & Borough (D&Bs) Councils subject to D&Bs confirming the value of funding required and the actual amount spent to support people self-isolating in their local areas within the terms of grant conditions, and this delegated decision confirms that in the first instance D&Bs will continue to be offered funding up to March 2022, and any carry forward of grant into 2022/23.

SCC will initially reimburse each D&B for the value of actual eligible expenditure they report to SCC as spent in the period 1^st March 2021 – 30^th June 2021.  SCC will ask D&Bs to then submit a budget plan for the period 1^st July 2021 – 31^st March 2022 and will reimburse each D&B for actual eligible expenditure

reported to SCC as spent against the submitted budget plan on a quarterly basis within this period. SCC will not make any reimbursements to D&Bs unless they provide an actual expenditure return.

If applications for funding received from D&Bs exceed the total value of grant funding remaining after initial reimbursements for the period 1^st March 2021 – 30^th June 2021, then the budget plans submitted for the period 1^st July 2021 – 31^st March 2022 will be adjusted based on each D&B’s population weighted by the Index of Multiple Deprivation for each local authority area to ensure each D&B receives an equitable allocation of grant funding.

Currently the initial £830,856 received has not been fully spent due to low numbers of self-isolating residents coming forward for support and the very specific grant conditions, and it is unlikely D&Bs will need much, if any, of the additional grant received per month since July, based on latest information provided to SCC.

SCC will consider if any funding not spent by D&Bs could be used for alternative purposes to meet qualifying SCC costs within the terms of the grant and then return any unspent funding at 2021/22 year end to DHSC.

District & Borough Councils already administer the Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme and other forms of direct financial support to those who self-isolate, so they are best placed to distribute the Practical Support grant to the relevant individuals.

SCC’s Public Health service has worked very closely with Surrey’s District & Borough Councils throughout the pandemic and continues to liaise with them about the completion of the monitoring returns to DHSC for the use of the Practical Support grant to ensure it is being used to maximum effect.

SCC must spend the Practical Support grant in line with the grant conditions.

SCC could have chosen to retain the funding and distribute the grant on services to individuals self-isolating directly, but it is considered this would not have been the most effective means of discharging these responsibilities given that District & Borough Councils are already administering other forms of support to individuals who are self-isolating

None.