This is the list of documents available for the submission At the beginning of August due to unforeseen circumstances our Scottish Welfare Fund team found itself with one person holding the fort rather than a team of 6. Our staff worked very hard to try and alleviate the situation but they were working against the odds and this meant that some of our most vulnerable citizens saw significant delays in receiving their community care grant. Council recognises that in order to process and deliver crisis grants and community care grants from the Scottish Welfare Fund, it is vital to have a team of well trained staff, with back up from other resources where necessary. Council acknowledges that that planned reduction in staffing from 7 to 4.5 was not realistic to provide required resilience. Council recognises that improved, tailored, signposting could also help alleviate this issue, showing claimants where else they could get help, whilst awaiting their decision, will both help the individual and relieve pressure on the Scottish Welfare Fund. Council asks that the sum of £67,352 per annum, be taken from reserves for the next 2 years to pay for another 2 FTE advisors. This will give some stability to the team and will ensure that the situation at the beginning of August 2019 does not happen again. Proposed by Councillor Black.

Click on the links to view the individual documents in PDF format.