Management Information Sheet

Support has continued to be extended to cover the period April 2023 to March 2024 for pupils eligible for means tested Free School Meals.

NB: Where appropriate, please pass this message on to the person in your school/ Trust that orders food vouchers for eligible children.

Norfolk County Council has today (14 March) announced how it will allocate its share of the fourth round of the Household Support Fund, which will start from the beginning of April.

The Household Support Fund is £13.4m the Government has given Norfolk to support residents who are struggling to pay their energy and utility bills. This includes support for single households, families with or without children, older people and disabled people. This funding runs from April 2023 to March 2024.

In addition to the £13.4m from central government the council will add an additional £400k to make the total programme of support worth £13.8m. This funding covers a 12-month period to the end of March 2024.

This is the fourth round of funding from the Household Support Fund, with the council having received over £20m from the government, and the council supplementing this with almost £2.5m since October 2021. By March 2024 the council will have spent £36.35m on Household Support, working closely with district, borough, and city councils, VCSE and public sector partners to identify and implement a range of support measures to meet the needs of vulnerable households, as well as providing more robust and joined up information and advice to those who need it.

£7.2m is being used directly to benefit children and families with a monthly allocation of EdenRed vouchers for children eligible for free school meals. This includes children in the early years who receive EY Pupil Premium, those in post-16 education in receipt of bursary funding and those Elective Home Educated children that the council is aware of that would be eligible to means-tested FSM should they attend school.

By adding an extra £0.4 million to the fund, we can reach out and support a wider range of households in need.

Our scheme will:

• Give families flexibility and choice in our support by providing a monthly cost of living voucher for families eligible for free school meals. Running from April to March, this will support families to budget and give them choice, helping them to plan for birthdays and holidays, or offset against other bills.
• Provide the Norfolk Assistance Scheme with funding to cover expected demand for utilities and fuel support including the purchase of oil
• Provide funding to District Councils to identify and support vulnerable households who live in cold homes, are in rent arrears or council tax debt or who are experiencing higher energy costs due to health needs
• See us working with local voluntary sector organisations and charities providing grants for cash payments and energy bill payments
• Enable all Norfolk libraries to continue to offer free hygiene packs with essential toiletry and sanitary products

We are again asking all Norfolk schools and colleges to order vouchers for their means-tested FSM-eligible pupils to cover the period April 23 - March 24 via the NCC EdenRed portal. NCC is covering the cost of these vouchers. Therefore, to reduce the administrative burden on schools and to ensure all orders placed are distinguished from school term time orders and avoid being charged, please follow the instructions below carefully.

Reminder for HSF3 Vouchers - April 2023

Please ensure you have actioned the April vouchers for HSF3, so parents do not go without the vouchers they are entitled to.

Ordering instructions: please follow carefully

As previously, NCC are not linking the food vouchers to the school holidays but are issuing them monthly to help families with the cost of living. Parents/ carers may choose to save vouchers rather than spend at the time of issue so they have more funds available during the school holidays if they wish to, within the constraints of the three-month expiry date of the vouchers. Note: If vouchers expire, they cannot be reissued.

The schedule for the placing of the HSF4 FSM voucher orders is as follows:

Please DO NOT use 1HSF4 MA and order a total of £90 of vouchers to be delivered on 05 May 2023 .

Schools may place their orders monthly or consolidate them into three orders; the first for May - August, the second for September to December and the third for January to March. This will take into account pupil movements in the new academic year and from January. Depending upon which option you choose, please use the correct order reference as shown in the columns above. The order reference has now become a mandatory field to complete so please use the correct details.

It is important that if you choose the consolidated order option you enter the correct 'go live' dates on your CSV file before uploading it into the EdenRed portal so that the vouchers do not become available to parents/ carers too early.

Please refer to your Edenred user guide for instructions.

All schools will need to order April and May immediately, whichever option you choose.

Any pupils newly eligible to FSM may join the schedule at the point they become entitled.

Newly appointed staff

If you are a newly appointed Headteacher or have new admin staff and are unsure about using the EdenRed portal, please e-mail fsmf@norfolk.gov.uk as soon as possible to arrange for your log-in to be set up.

Queries

Any other queries in relation to voucher orders should also be directed to the Free School Meals Finance Team at fsmf@norfolk.gov.uk. NB: please do not contact EdenRed directly.

Please continue to encourage eligible families to register for free school meals as this will enable them to qualify for these vouchers as well as the other support available.

You may wish to share this link on your own Facebook pages to promote the scheme to your parents and carers: www.norfolk.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools/school-meals-and-milk

Please note that the free school meal vouchers will only be available to those who are eligible and have registered.

Families in hardship and needing wider support

In addition to the offer of FSM vouchers for eligible families, there is support available for families who are facing hardship and need support.

Anyone experiencing hardship may be able to receive support through the Norfolk Assistance Scheme (NAS), which may be able to provide support for food, fuel, clothes and other essential household items to families experiencing hardship. Wider support from a range of partners can then also be made available with NAS working alongside the Children's Services Community and Partnerships service.

Families may get in touch with NAS via their dedicated website which includes an online application form, at Norfolk Assistance Scheme - Norfolk County Council or if they cannot access the internet, they can call 0344 800 8020.

Thank you to colleagues for continuing to support vulnerable children and families.