Issue - meetings

Further to Minute 14 (12 July 2022), the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement presented a report on the latest activity and initiatives to support the local community during the cost-of-living crisis, which included plans to allocate £3.065m towards a range of projects from the £4.5m Welfare Fund established by the Council.

The Cabinet Member pointed out that as Barking and Dagenham was rated as the most deprived area in London and the 21st most deprived nationally, the cost-of-living issues affecting the whole of the UK would undoubtably be even more apparent for Borough residents.  She spoke of her pride at the swift and comprehensive response by the Council, the local voluntary and community sector (VCSE) and other partners to meet the challenges and referred to the preliminary results from a survey of local residents which showed that 82% of respondents were worried about paying monthly bills and 68% had already cut back on food and groceries.

The Cabinet Member drew attention to the range of existing services and support on offer to the local community via, for example, the Citizens Advice Bureau, BD CAN and the Homes and Money Hub, and gave an update on the development of the local Cost-of-Living Alliance which would be based on the following principles:

·  Joining up the support already in place across the Borough, whether through Council-commissioned services, VCSE and Faith communities and other statutory agencies;

·  Embed learning and responding together in a coordinated way;

·  Committing to working together for the long-term to address this challenge and make a difference for residents; and

·  Focussing on the best possible outcomes for and with residents.

With regard to the allocation of funding from the Council’s Welfare Fund, the proposals included the creation of six new Locality Lead posts to establish networks of help and support, address unmet need and identify hidden / unknown demand; measures to tackle food insecurity and poverty; school uniform and clothing exchange partnerships; and the permanent establishment of the No / Low Interest Loans Scheme to offer consolidation and very low interest loans for residents in debt and with very poor credit ratings. Resources would also be provided to support a Communications and Engagement Plan and, to that end, it was noted that a booklet would be sent to every household in the Borough during October setting out the types of support available and other useful information.

Cabinet colleagues spoke in full support of the proposals detailed in the report and offered up a number of other practical suggestions that residents could apply within their homes to help save money.  Furthermore, the Cabinet called on the Government to do far more to support not only the most vulnerable in society but all those impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve the allocation of funding totalling £3.065m from the Welfare Fund to the priority initiatives and areas of support, as set out in sections 4 and 5 and Appendix 2 of the report;

(ii)  Delegate authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32