Nottingham City Council has approved the continued use of more than £1 million in public health funding to support advice services for residents experiencing, or at risk of, financial difficulty.
The move allows £1,015,000 of ring-fenced Public Health Grant funding to be spent with Citizens Advice Nottinghamshire Central and South on behalf of the Advice Nottingham consortium.
The funding will cover the period from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2028 and will support information, advice and guidance services for people in Nottingham who are facing financial problems.
The decision does not create a new service or increase the value of the original grant. Instead, it transfers, or novates, an existing grant agreement from Nottingham and District Citizens Advice Bureau to Citizens Advice Nottinghamshire Central and South, following organisational changes.
The council report says Nottingham and District Citizens Advice Bureau formally notified the authority in April 2026 that it had merged into Citizens Advice Central Nottinghamshire. That organisation then changed its name to Citizens Advice Nottinghamshire Central and South.
The new organisation is carrying out the same functions as its predecessor and will continue to act on behalf of the Advice Nottingham consortium, a group of six advice agencies based in Nottingham.
The original grant was approved by the council’s Commissioning and Procurement Executive Committee on 15 April 2025. It awarded £406,000 a year for three years, with a total value of £1,218,000, to provide advice and assistance to residents at risk of financial difficulty.
The remaining £1,015,000 will now be transferred under the revised agreement. The funding is split as £406,000 in 2026/27, £406,000 in 2027/28 and £203,000 in 2028/29.
Council documents say the decision has been taken as a leader’s key decision to avoid delays to grant payments, support the financial stability of the service and prevent disruption to ongoing work.
The advice service covers issues including welfare benefits, income maximisation, debt, energy debt, housing, immigration, consumer matters, family issues and employment law.
According to the report, the most common reason people use the service is for benefits advice, which accounts for 52% of cases. Debt advice accounts for 16% and housing advice for 7%.
The council says the service has supported more residents than expected. Between quarters one and three of 2025/26, the grant-funded service was expected to take on 3,648 new cases but actually dealt with 4,337. During the same period, it was expected to secure £2.85 million in income gains for residents, but the reported figure was £6.11 million.
The decision comes against a background of significant income deprivation in Nottingham. The council report says Nottingham is ranked 16th out of 296 local authorities nationally for income deprivation, with deprivation seen across the city but particularly concentrated in Bulwell, Aspley, Bilborough, Hyson Green and Arboretum, Radford, Dales and parts of Clifton.
The council links the funding to public health because people living in poverty are more likely to experience poorer health outcomes, shorter life expectancy, long-term physical and mental health conditions and barriers to accessing health services.
The report says improving residents’ financial resilience can support better health, as well as helping people maintain housing, access work and contribute to the local economy.
The funding comes from the ring-fenced Public Health Grant, which must be spent where the main and primary purpose is public health. The council says the work links to public health outcomes including children living in poverty and fuel poverty.
The grant agreement will continue to be managed in the same way as previously approved. Nottingham City Council will set the outcomes to be achieved, while Citizens Advice Nottinghamshire Central and South, acting for the Advice Nottingham consortium, will decide how those outcomes are delivered in practice.
The report says unspent or misspent funding would have to be returned to the council, and any future changes to the grant value, scope or proposals would require further approval.
Council officers considered not transferring the agreement, but rejected that option because it would mean the current offer of financial advice could no longer continue. A competitive tender was also rejected because officers said it would interrupt service delivery.
The report says there are no staffing implications for Nottingham City Council. It also says a data protection impact assessment carried out for the original grant will be updated with the details of the new lead organisation, while equality and carbon assessments do not need updating because no changes to the service are proposed.
The decision affects the whole city and remains subject to call-in until 17 June 2026.
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