Agenda item

To detail current and proposed work to support those who are being impacted by the emerging cost of living crisis in Stroud District.

Councillor Aldam, Vice Chair of Community Services and Licencing Committee, introduced the report and thanked the Officers for their hard work in supporting the cost-of-living crisis.

She confirmed that the council were drawing on its own resources as well as that which had been given by central government and distributed by Gloucestershire County Council. The strain on communities and on the resources of statutory and non-statutory agencies was set to increase significantly however, there was a lack of detailed information about what groups would be most affected. The usage of Food Banks had already risen by 90% and the use of the Citizens Advice Bureau for support had also risen sharply in recent months.

She stated that they were asking for delegation to the Strategic Director of Communities to help lead the response to the cost-of-living crisis and be given the ability to respond appropriately as more information emerged. She highlighted the actions that had been proposed to help provide support which included:

• Appoint the Strategic Director of Communities to be the cost-of-living crisis workstream lead.
• A group of Officers from across services to be identified to prioritise the cost-of-living crisis work.
• Training for all front-line staff and volunteers.
• Direct contact through printed letters sent to home addresses of those who are digitally excluded and posters for public spaces.
• Produce a map of Warm Space activities and identify when local support is not readily available.
• Work with key partners to help coordinate Warm Spaces.
• Distribute future Househould Support Funding.
• Financial contribution and support for Community Hubs.
• Funding portal for Warm Spaces.
• Communications Plan.
• Update the Risk Register.

In response to Councillor Studdert-Kennedy it was confirmed that there was a typo on Page 42 Paragraph 4, where it should have read ‘to’ rather than ‘by’. It was also confirmed that GDPR was a barrier to sourcing the information required in order to support those most at need directly. However, they were looking at the data that the Council held and working with partners who had their own data. The Council would provide support to partners who held their own information in order for them to carry out the work and target the necessary groups of people without the need for the Council to be provided with the information protected by GDPR. It was also advised that Parish and Town Councils would be provided with support.

Cllr Turner asked whether they could make sure that Members were receiving relevant information in terms of helping to support their communities. The Community Health and Wellbeing Manager advised them that the website would be updated regularly and that they would need support from Councillors.

Councillor Jockel asked for more information about how the response would be coordinated and how the Council would work in partnership with the community sector. The Community Health and Wellbeing Manager advised that they were acutely aware that the community groups were the front line for the cost-of-living crisis and they were working very closely with The Hubs however, it was difficult in communities where there wasn’t a strong network of people working together. The Strategic Director of Resources provided reassurance that the council was working strategically and closely across the directorates, there had been a member working group established to help support the cost-of-living crisis.

Councillor Watson asked whether the Council could consider providing direct residents to payments to be paid in cash rather than supermarket vouchers and whether they were exploring options to allow funding for businesses especially where there were gaps in the not for profit support. The Strategic Director of Communities advised that they were looking to identify gaps in support and they would be interested in looking at all opportunities including working with the private sector. He further advised that they were looking to see if they could move to direct payments but there were issues regarding GDPR and the practicalities of providing cash payments.

Proposed by Councillor Aldam and seconded by Councillor Braun.

Councillor Braun offered her thanks to the Community Health and Wellbeing Manager and Strategic Director of Communities for all of the work they were doing to help coordinate a response to the cost-of-living crisis and was pleased to see that they were allocating funding for the immediate response and investing in the long term community resilience.

Councillor Housden highlighted the Household Support Fund distributed by the County Council and the Holiday Activity and Food programme which had supported over 60% of children on free school meals. He welcomed the £100k allocation for the cost-of-living crisis and stated that it was important that everyone worked together during the difficult period.

Councillor Laurie Davies thanked the Community Health and Wellbeing Manager for the support she had provided community hubs and stated the people in her ward were going to benefit from the work the council was doing to support the cost-of-living crisis.

On being put to the vote the Motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED To

a)   support the implementation of a cost-of-living crisis response set out in this report.

b)  Agree the allocation of the £100k funding previously committed to this work by the Strategy and Resources Committee.

c)   Delegate responsibility for developing this work to the Strategic Director of Communities in consultation with the Chair of Community Services & Licensing Committee