Agenda item

To include an update on the Cost of Living Motion.

Executive Councillor Chris Booth, portfolio holder for Communities, provided a verbal update to the Committee on matters relating to the CoL motion.  Cllr Booth advised that since the CoL motion was adopted by Full Council in July, a number of measures had been implemented.

·       SWT had created a Hardship Fund of £50K which had been passed to Citizens Advice in Taunton and West Somerset to administer. This money had been spent very quickly and was no longer available. Cllr Booth provided some statistics, to show who had accessed the fund and the geographical split.

A copy of the slide is available to here in the web library.

This money was not allowed to be spent on arrears or debt and only one claim could be made per household. A number of questions arose around the statistics and these have been picked up in the Written Answer Tracker. (Officers will be following up with the Citizens Advice Bureau).

·       Somerset County Council had recently implemented the Household Support Fund which would be a way for residents to access additional help.

·       £50k has also been sent to the Somerset Community Foundation as part of the Cost-of-Living Crisis Fund. This was SWT’s contribution, but all 5 councils in Somerset had paid into it.

·       A request was made for the new unitary administration to honour the agreement made to support the VCSE sector through the first year of the new council. It was vitally important that the good work that is being done, does not come under threat due to funding being withdrawn.

·       Cllr Tom Deakin said that the key themes that seemed to be coming out of SCC to support households this winter were around warm spaces and food resilience. All councils need to be working together, because there was just not enough money to go around to help everyone!

·       Cllr Booth also highlighted the work of the Community Employment hubs and Job Fairs that were taking place. These had been well attended, and there were lots of agencies and organisations on hand to offer advice and information. These were advertised in the local press, social media and in the SWT newsletter. It would be good to share this information as widely as possible. The next one is due to take place at West Somerset House, Williton.

·       Cllr Habgood praised the work of the community resilience team, and in particular the work in food resilience being undertaken by Helen Philips. The Local Pantries are a good way of building food resilience and a move away from heavy dependency and reliance on food banks. Ongoing sustainability is key.

·       Cllr Tully stated that there is a local pantry in West Monkton that has already seen an increase in users, despite the fact that we are not in the hardest months of the year yet. People are also asking for help with the purchase of white goods and other items, because they are already struggling.

·       In summation, it was recognised that all the councils need to pull together this winter to work together, share resources and support and thus maximise the offer to residents.