Agenda item

To seek approval to allocate £28,000 of funding to the Mental Health Hub run by Citizen’s Advice Tendring.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a)  approves the ‘Subsidy Addressing Health Inequality – Mental Health Subsidy Scheme for 2024/25’;

b)  awards Citizen’s Advice Tendring direct grant funding of £28,000 as a contribution to the provision of a Mental Health Hub for 2024/25; and

c)   requests Officers to ensure that the award is published on the Government’s website, as soon as practicable.

Cabinet considered a report of the Partnerships Portfolio Holder (A.8), which sought its approval to allocate £28,000 of funding to the Mental Health Hub run by Citizen’s Advice Tendring (CAT), via use of an ‘Addressing Health Inequality – Mental Health Subsidy Scheme’, to ensure that this Council was compliant with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. This would provide justification for direct funding to CAT should the funding fall under the legal definition of a subsidy.

Cabinet was aware that CAT provided a Mental Health Hub, which had been operating for nine years.  The Hub was a single point of access for a holistic assessment and intervention for vulnerable residents who had poor mental health. The Hub provided a broad range of support for those who attended, including an opportunity for volunteering which could help to lead to employment. 

Members were reminded that the Hub had developed following the significant mental health need in the area, which Council partners wanted to respond to and which had become further exacerbated, in particular following Covid.  The partners had identified how the Hub could support their priorities, for example, around public health, community safety and helping residents in an area with particularly challenging mental health outcomes.  The Hub therefore provided an essential service to residents and was located in one of the most deprived wards in the country in terms of mental health and so ideally placed to provide such support.

It was reported that the Hub was funded by Tendring District Council, Essex County Council, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the Integrated Care Board.  The lead administrator role for the Service Level Agreement with CAT was held by the Integrated Care Board.  The contribution from Tendring District Council was £28,000 per year.

It was felt that, without the funding provided by the Council, the Hub might not be able to continue as other partners might not be able to make up the shortfall.

Cabinet was advised that the allocation of the funding would be via a subsidy control scheme, which would be published on the Government website to ensure that this Council was compliant with the Subsidy Control Act 2022 for any funding it allocated.

Members were reminded that a subsidy was where a public authority provided support to an enterprise that gave them an economic advantage, meaning equivalent support could not have been obtained on commercial terms.  Subsidies could give recipients an unfair advantage over their competitors or be an inefficient use of public money if they did not bring about net positive change.

Cabinet was cognisant that it was the responsibility of public authorities to consider the effect of the funding that they awarded.  Subsidies were in the public interest to address a market failure or equity concern, and if awarded, would be in a way that minimised any negative impact on competition and investment to help ensure public money was used in an effective and efficient way.

As part of a wider grant review currently being undertaken the Hub funding would form part of that review and this would include how services were commissioned in future.

In order to ensure:-

(i)     the Council was following its legal obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022   and statutory guidance; and

(ii)    funding was provided to deliver a Mental Health Hub to support people with poor mental health;

It was moved by Councillor Placey, seconded by Councillor Bushand:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a)  approves the ‘Subsidy Addressing Health Inequality – Mental Health Subsidy Scheme for 2024/25’;

b)  awards Citizen’s Advice Tendring direct grant funding of £28,000 as a contribution to the provision of a Mental Health Hub for 2024/25; and

c)   requests Officers to ensure that the award is published on the Government’s website, as soon as practicable.