That £65,000 be allocated to the Torbay Isolation Discretionary Scheme to enable the Council to continue making payments under the Scheme, to be funded from the Lockdown Grant.

To enable the Council to continue to provide grant funding to financially vulnerable people in Torbay who are required to isolate due to Covid-19 and do not meet the Government’s criteria for support, in order to minimise the spread of Covid-19.

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This decision will come into force immediately.

In addition to the statutory scheme for Isolation Payments, the Government had awarded Torbay Council £40,609.60 to support people who were required by law to self-isolate due to Covid-19 from 28 September through a payment of a one of grant of £500 for those who were on a lower income who could not work from home and lost income as a result, but did not meet the criteria for the Government funded payments. 

Demand for the Scheme had exceeded the amount of funding provided by the Government, leaving many people who were losing income and experiencing financial hardship as a result of complying with the legal duty to self-isolate when told to do so by NHS Test and Trace in a very difficult position.  Therefore it was proposed to allocate an additional £65,000 to continue to support our residents.

Full details of the support available to Torbay residents who are required to self-isolate due to Covid-19 can be found on our website at

https://www.torbay.gov.uk/council/policies/finance-policies/test-and-trace-support-payments/

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