Agenda item

To present the report of the Chief Executive.

The report of the Chief Executive setting out how the Council is responding to poverty and the national cost of living challenges that are affecting individuals, families, communities, businesses and other bodies on Anglesey was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny. The report contained information about the availability of benefits and financial support, the free school meals scheme and other preventative schemes.

The Chief Executive in setting the context said that poverty and cost of living challenges are now impacting on the lives of many of Anglesey’s residents, including children and are being felt more widely across Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom. A shortage of quality job opportunities, adequate salaries, benefit dependency and rising costs are all contributing to the crisis. Recent increases in inflation, interest rates, mortgage and borrowing costs are putting individuals, communities, businesses and organisations under extra pressure. The prevailing uncertainty is affecting everyone including the Council making it difficult to predict how and where any further measures by the UK Government and the Bank of England will affect the people of Anglesey. While the recent change in the UK Government’s policy including the decision not to pursue the growth plan has brought some measure of financial stability, the uncertainty continues on the ground. The announcement of the Chancellor’s new economic plan on 31 October alongside a forecast by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility should provide more clarity as regards the introduction of any additional measures to combat the cost of living crisis and the consequent effects on Welsh Government budgets.

The Chief Executive provided assurance that in the meantime, the Council’s staff will continue to work hard to support the residents of Anglesey as best they can. Although up to date information is not available since national processes for collecting, analysing and reporting data are not fully up and running since the Covid pandemic, information gathered by the Citizens’ Advice Bureau shows that the five main cost of living issues locally over the past five months have been personal independence payments, financial capacity, energy costs, financial capacity and life events, and Council Tax reduction. The Council is aware that child poverty has increased on Anglesey between 2015 and 2021 according to figures provided by the End Child Poverty Coalition. Rising fuel costs are hitting rural areas particularly hard and although the number of people claiming unemployment benefit decreased from 4.7% to 3.2% in August, 2022, the news about potential redundancies at the Alpoco plant in Holyhead is concerning. The Council is trying to create a more detailed and up to date analysis of poverty and cost of living indicators but the task is challenging.

While the crisis has led to an increase in demand on a number of services requiring the delivery of interventions and supporting measures, there has been no corresponding increase in capacity to deal with the extra work. Despite the uncertainty and personal pressures, the commitment of the Council staff and their desire to help others remain strong and they are to be thanked especially front line staff and those who are, and have been processing benefit payments.

In working together with communities and other organisations, the Council will be able to achieve more and the collaborative arrangements between the Council and local organisations which worked so effectively during the pandemic are again proving their worth in the current crisis. The Council has updated its website to provide information about where further help and support with the cost of living can be obtained and links are shared through its social media channels. While the current challenges are significant, the Council is doing all it can within available resources to help people locally by administering benefits and financial support, free school meals, and by delivering a range of support service and interventions, many in partnership with other organisations. The Council will itself have to adapt in the face of an expected reduction in funding and resources at a time when demands for the Council’s support are rising.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer provided an overview of the benefits and financial support available and delivered to individuals facing financial hardship. These interventions were set out in detail in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Director of Education, Skills and Young People reported on how the Council has  implemented the new Free School Meals Scheme working with the catering company Chartwells and the Property Service to realise this plan in Anglesey’s schools (Appendix 2 to the report) and he also referred to the School Holiday Enrichment Programme as another important element of support provided by the Learning Directorate providing education on food and nutrition, physical activity, enrichment session and healthy meals for children in areas of social deprivation over the summer holidays.

The Head of Housing Services explained where and how the Council delivers services and interventions either alone or in partnership to minimise the impact of poverty on the Island. The table in Appendix 3 to the report provided an overview of some of the identified poverty areas that Anglesey residents have faced and continue to face and highlights the identified risks and how as a Council working with partner agencies, these risks are mitigated.

The Committee in recognising the severity and complexity of the current cost of living crisis acknowledged the hard work of Council officers in trying to ameliorate the worst effects on the people and communities of Anglesey by providing financial help, support and advice and by signposting individuals and families to other organisations able to give assistance. In the ensuing discussion the following matters were considered with Officers providing clarifications and assurance about how the issues raised are being addressed -

·         Take-up of winter fuel payments and encouraging people who are eligible to make a  claim

·         The importance of communication and raising awareness of the range of help available especially within the rural population and for people who don’t have access to a computer and internet.

·         The adequacy of national interventions in supporting the individuals and communities on Anglesey.

·         The cost-effectiveness of sub-contracting some of the assessment or payment processing work to external companies

·         Supporting schools to respond to sensitive situations where there are low income families who are just above the threshold for  free school meals and are therefore not eligible

·         Helping people in ways other than through financial support by directing them to/providing them with advice about reducing energy consumption and improving their budgeting and cooking skills for example in order to reduce food costs

·         Gaps in areas that require further consideration in terms of the Council’s forward planning

·         Expediting the development of a debt service within Housing Services to supplement and reduce the pressure on the Citizens’ Advice Bureau as the only debt advice provision within Anglesey.

Portfolio Members provided assurance that they are working closely with the Officers of their service portfolios to keep abreast of developments and to ensure the best use of scarce resources and the delivery of value for money in all that the Council does.

It was resolved –

·                     To note the schemes and interventions in place to support individuals and communities across Anglesey throughout the cost of living crisis

·                     To note and accept the resilience and adequacy of the schemes and interventions in place to support the people of Anglesey.