Agenda item

To consider the Borough’s initial and planned response to the cost of living crisis, including partnership working with the Hardship Alliance.

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 5 to 22, which outlined Wokingham Borough Council’s initial and ongoing response alongside the Hardship Alliance to address the cost-of-living crisis.

Stephen Conway, Executive Member for Housing, and Rachel Bishop Firth, Executive Member for Equalities, Inclusion and Fighting Poverty, provided a brief overview of the partnership working being undertaken to help tackle this crisis. This was a very difficult time for a lot of residents in the Borough, and a considerable amount of hard work was being undertaken to help support individuals and families. Practical advice and help were being provided in relation to issues such as food, keeping warm and managing impacts on mental health. The support being provided in conjunction with the Hardship Alliance was critical, and there was a real desire to strengthen and improve this type of collaborative working where possible.

Jake Morrison, Chief Executive – Citizens Advice Wokingham, provided the Committee with a background to the increased service demand being seen within the Borough. The same number of individuals had been referred for help in the first two-months of 2019 than had been referred this morning. There had been a forty-percent increase in the number of individuals being referred for benefit issues, and a twenty-percent increase in the number of individuals being referred with debt issues. Whilst it was good that people felt confident to reach out for help, demand had increased markedly with a thirty-five percent increase in calls received in October. The typical service request had also shifted, as previously people were contacting the service when bailiffs were at there door, whilst it was now more common for people to be contacting the service regarding not having access to essentials such as food, clothes or energy. More and more individuals were now considering or carrying out self-harm, whilst staff on phones regularly spoke to suicidal individuals. A survey had been sent regarding the cost-of-living crisis, with 680 responses received to date. Seventy-five percent of respondents had yet to reach out to services for support, whilst nineteen percent had borrowed money from either a friend, bank, payday loan company or a loan shark to pay for essentials.

Emma Cantrell, Chief Executive – First Days, provided the Committee with a background to the increased service demand being seen within the Borough. The issues being dealt with now were ordinarily seen in more deprived areas in places such as London. Demand management was introduced a few years ago to allow staff to work more closely with fewer families, however staff now dealt with far more cases than ever before.

Stephen Conway (Executive Member for Housing), Rachel Bishop Firth (Executive Member for Equalities Inclusion and Fighting Poverty), Mark Gwynne (Strategic Lead – Chief Executive’s Office), Emily Higson (Head of Insight Strategy and Inclusion), Jake Morrison (Chief Executive – Citizens Advice Wokingham), and Emma Cantrell (Chief Executive – First Days) attended the meeting to answer member queries.

During the ensuing discussion, members raised the following points and queries:

·         What level of additional work was being undertaken by Council officers to provide additional support? Executive Member and officer response – An Assistant Director was named for a specific response area, and they came together each fortnight to discuss response progress. Response areas were aligned with officers’ core responsibilities, and this was very much an area where additional work and effort was required to see results. This was both a corporate and political priority, and whilst Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) did not have vast amounts of funding to put into this area, we had other resources which could be utilised;

·         It was requested that officers continue to explore any opportunities from Central Government as to additional grants or funding available in this area;

·         It was noted that whilst Wokingham was seen as an affluent area, for many people it would only take a small change in their financial circumstances for them to be in a crisis situation;

·         It was noted that individuals were cutting back on anything that was considered as non-essential, including gym memberships and heating in some cases. This could have adverse consequences on individual’s health;

·         It was noted that poverty had been in Wokingham for a long time, it was just more hidden and now impacted a wider range of people;

·         How was the targeted approach being managed? Executive Member and officer response – Public Health and other services were on hand to identify people most in need, whilst modelling was underway with adult social care data. There were a lot of people in the Borough who had a high income and lived comfortable lives, and this could make it harder for those on the lowest incomes, as it made prices higher including housing and food costs. People on low incomes could feel unsure about where or who they could turn to for help, and in areas of higher deprivation there was often better community signposting. Lobbying of Central Government was taking place on a cross-party level about this issue. There was concern that funding which was currently being utilised by WBC to continue free school meals in school holidays could be cut, and additional lobbying needed to take place to make the case for this funding to continue;

·         It was noted that some individuals required for their debt to get worse before help and intervention could be provided. The way which individuals were treated by all Council Services and the Hardship Alliance should be a single excellent level of service, with departments talking to each other and referring issues to the most relevant contact for a speedy response;

·         What could be done on a local level to assist people with rising utility bills? Hardship Alliance response – Citizens Advice were calling for a winter ban of energy companies forcing people onto prepayment meters. It was requested that WBC consider writing a letter in support of this sentiment;

·         How was the dashboard (operated by Citizens Advice Wokingham) being constructed? Hardship Alliance response – There was a public cost of living dashboard which could be circulated to members for information. Data was submitted weekly to WBC in an anonymised format;

·         This area had not been a typical set of issues that Town and Parish Councils were asked to offer support for. How were Town and Parish Councils now being involved? Hardship Alliance response – Town and Parish Councils had been reached out to, as in many cases they were landlords of buildings that could be used for community gatherings or acting as a ‘warm bank’. There was a plethora of fantastic and engaged clerks who were very open to providing support where they could;

·         It was noted that prepayment meters usually attracted a higher unit cost, and as many of them were not compatible with smart meters this meant that residents could not see what was drawing the most power (and therefore cost) in their homes;

·         Were there plans to get practical advice and signposting into the Borough News? Executive Member response – Officers were looking to get advice into printed format in addition to social media output, whilst residents associations were also being informed about signposting and support on offer;

·         It was noted that the component organisations of the Hardship Alliance undertook a considerable amount of specialist work, and they have come together to work towards a common purpose. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Wokingham Borough Community response had no stigma towards it, and this was the direction that the Hardship Alliance wanted to aim towards;

·         Had options been explored to place ‘QR’ codes on stickers to be placed on lampposts, as had been done during the pandemic. This would reduce the stigma that some people might feel, and increase the places that people could access information and help. Executive Member response – This point would be noted and explored by officers;

·         It was noted that reference to crowdfunding was about enabling local people who were able to and who wanted to donate to donate to a number of the great charities operating in the borough;

·         It was commented that some elderly people were ringing the emergency services, citing an accident, just to enable them to speak to someone as they were feeling lonely and isolated;

·         Were large companies operating in the Borough being contacted to explore any donation matching schemes open to their employees (many large business matched staff donations up to a certain amount)? Executive Member and Hardship Alliance response – This was being actively explored, as were any corporate responsibility funds operated by these companies. It was noted that there would also be employees and pensioners in the Borough working for large organisations who were not based in the Borough;

·         Payday loans offered a terrible interest rate, as such, were community loans being explored? Hardship Alliance response – Credit Unions were an excellent resource for offering loans for certain expenditure. Community First in Norreys had spoken for some time about setting up a form of community loans service;

·         It was noted that a cross-party letter or motion would be written to the Chief Executives of electricity companies, raising concern about how defaulting customers were being treated, included being placed on prepayment meters. It was added that Citizens Advice Wokingham could feed into this process via the provision of a policy statement;

·         It was noted that teachers could often be the first point of contact within schools, and were therefore well placed to signpost families to the support on officer. Officers noted that schools were being actively engaged with as part of the community response to this issue;

·         Could Town and Parish Councils legally use a portion of their precept to deliver services for select parts of the community, for example provision of warm banks? Executive Member and hardship Alliance response – A framework could be provided to Town and Parish Councils as to how they might wish to get involved in this response. The best approach to something like a warm bank was making it a universally accessible session. Rather than promoting it as a place to stay warm, it could be promoted as a chance for local people to get together and have a cup of tea, play some board games, and talk about issues in the community. Best practice and guidance about warm banks was being produced and could be sent to Town and parish Councils. In terms of the use of funds or grants to deliver these services, it was suggested that Town and Parish Councils reach out to each other as some authorities had similar existing programmes. It was noted that Citizens Advice could share localised ward data with individual Town and Parish Councils on request.

RESOLVED That:

1)      Stephen Conway, Rachel Bishop Firth, Mark Gwynne, Emily Higson, Jake Morrison, and Emma Cantrell be thanked for attending the meeting;

2)      Officers continue to proactively explore any additional funding or grant opportunities from Central Government;

3)      A cross-party motion or letter be written, with inclusion of a policy statement from Citizens Advice, raising concern about how defaulting customers were being treated, included being placed on prepayment meters;

4)      The Citizens Advice cost of living dashboard be circulated to the Committee;

5)      Officers explore placing cost of living support information on lamp posts;

6)      Town and Parish Councils be sent upcoming guidance and best practice regarding warm spaces;

7)      Town and Parish Councils be informed that they could request localised ward data from Citizens Advice Wokingham.