The Director of Public Health will provide an update on the Council’s current position regarding the cost of living crisis.
Minutes:
The Director of Public Health provided an update on the Council’s ongoing response to the cost-of-living crisis. The Head of Revenues and Customer Support was also present to update on available support. It was noted that:
· The ONS estimated that 1 in 3 adults were currently having difficulty affording rent and mortgage payments and that around half of adults were buying less food when shopping.
· Leicester was ranked 8th nationally in regard to vulnerability with cost of living. With the main difficulty being in median annual pay.
· An Incident Management Team had been running since September to co-ordinate the Council’s response to the crisis. Within this there were a number of sub-cells focusing on different services and issues such as emergency food, as well as working with the voluntary sector and other partners.
· As part of the fuel poverty programme there was now a bespoke energy advice service now in place. With regards to energy advice there was a policy of ‘no wrong front door’ meaning that staff across different services would be trained to be able to give advice on these matters.
· Various anti-poverty grants were in place to support targeted vulnerable groups. A new round of grants would be advertised soon.
· All support that was noted at previous meetings was still ongoing.
· BetterOff Leicester was a website which provided financial advice and made users aware of benefits they were entitled to. The site also created a risk score for users using the budgeting tool and would notify those on high-risk of options for help.
· Usage figures of BetterOff were being closely monitored, with fuel advice and the income maximisation tool being the most used pages.
· Over 60% of the funding from the Household Support Fund through applications and professional referrals had been used to support fuel costs. The fund was targeted towards households which were ‘just about managing’ financially.
In response to questions from Members it was noted that:
· With regard to the Household Support Fund, it was a national scheme, an individual could only apply for support once in the current round however it could be twice for the next financial year.
· Mental health first aid training would be provided to Food Bank staff and others in order to have more sustainable support.
· A breakdown of users for BetterOff was not possible as BetterOff was anonymised so there was no information on users.
· BetterOff was promoted heavily on social media and in libraires and advice on using the site was also provided.
In response to questions from Youth Representatives it was noted that:
· With regard to energy advice work there would be an awareness programme in primary schools on energy efficiency to educate pupils. This would be launched in September.
· In relation to the role of schools in providing support, schools could make referrals to the Household Support Fund and ensure access to other support for those not eligible for free school meals. Applications were open for the Easter Holiday Activity and Food Programme.
· On Council support for Food Banks, Food Banks were run independently but supported by the food network coordinator in order to maximise supplies and volunteers. Food Bank demand had gone up, but no Food Banks had reported shortages with food. The numbers of Food Banks had remained stable.
· In respect to those with no access to public funds, the aim was to make support as universal as possible so that those with no access to public funds could also receive fuel energy advice.
· The Council aimed to reduce the stigma around seeking help by publicising data about the scale of the crisis.
The Chair praised the extensive work of Officers and voluntary organisations on this.
AGREED:
That the Committee notes the update and thanks all involved in providing support during the cost-of-living crisis.