Trafford Assist Scheme

Overview

Trafford Council is facing financial challenges which means we have to save £53 million pounds over the next 3 years. Due to our financial position we have difficult decisions to make when allocating and prioritising public spending. 

We are committed to consulting and engaging with Trafford residents and other stakeholders to inform the way we work in the future and to assess any impact these decisions may have. Feedback we receive will be used to shape our approaches to help reduce negative impacts as far as possible.

Trafford’s local welfare assistance scheme, Trafford Assist, has been in place since April 2013 and was designed to offer support to meet immediate short term needs in an emergency, mainly for food and fuel.  The service also offers support with white goods and emergency travel. The Council has a budget of £218k specifically for the Trafford Assist scheme and full details of the current scheme can be found here

The Covid pandemic, followed by the cost of living crisis has seen demand for financial assistance soar as vulnerable residents have struggled to meet their basic needs.

In the last few years, the Council has received additional funding from the Government called the Household Support Fund (HSF) to provide a broader range of support to residents. In 2023/24 the Council received £2.9m from the HSF scheme and some of the HSF monies were used to meet the increased demands on the Trafford Assist scheme.   

We expect that all additional funding via the HSF scheme will cease on 31^st March 2024, leaving only the Council’s own budget to support the Trafford Assist scheme.  

Loss of additional funding via the HSF scheme means that the Council must refine the purpose of the Trafford Assist scheme, returning it to its pre-pandemic and original scope of being an emergency scheme which is designed to offer support to meet immediate short term needs in an emergency, mainly for food and fuel.

With a budget of only £218k, the Council must now consider ways in which it can deliver the best outcomes it can via the Trafford Assist scheme.

Although these have been difficult times, one of the positives outcomes has been the evolution of the six Trafford Community Hubs, where every resident can access a range of support in their local area.