To consider and comment on support for children and families to mitigate the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Minutes:
Jean Taylor, Head of Policy, outlined the Council’s response to the cost of living crisis and, in particular, support for children and families. Many of the key issues had been considered already by the Panel as part of its recent review on child poverty. The borough had the fifth highest rate of child poverty in London. Its level of fuel poverty was the fourth highest in London and 73% of properties were in the lowest energy efficiency bands which meant that is was particularly exposed to the impact of increased fuel prices.
The Council had a low income family tracker. This had been compiled using Council data and contained 32,000 households, two thirds of whom were families with children. Such families were in receipt of benefits and likely to be experiencing at least some level of financial hardship. 13% of such families were considered likely to be in cash shortfall.
There was concern about the impact of the cost of living crisis on residents, particularly those most vulnerable. There was a co-ordinated cross Council approach and this included housing management. It involved looking at the levers that the Council had to provide support. A Winter Resilience Risk Register was being compiled by Emergency Planning and would guide the Council’s work.
Work was being undertaken to understanding the level of need and monitor impact. This included mapping that nature and extent of existing poverty, debt and financial hardship. The Council’s data would be used to project impacts and identify specific groups for targeted support. Existing networks and forums were also being used to gather real time information about the impact.
The key element of the process was financial support and benefit maximisation. This was aimed at maximising the amount of money that families had so that they could prioritise how it was used. A range of activities were undertaken. A financial support team was is in place, with a new direct telephone line. There was targeted distribution of the Household Support Fund, a Council Tax Reduction Scheme and discretionary housing payments. All Council tenants and leaseholders had also been written to, setting out the full range of help and support available.
The Household Support Fund, funded by central government, was one of the main levers. The grant was distributed through small payments to support vulnerable households in meeting daily needs. It was now in the third round of funding, each of which had come with specific criteria. Support to children and young people had prioritised in each round. There had been a number of specific commitments by the Council to support children and young people, including:
• £1,000,000 for free school meals extension into the school holidays;
• £100 payments to families with children under 5;
• £100 payments to families with no recourse to public funds; and
• £100 payments to care leavers.
In terms of communications, the objectives had been to:
· Ensure that residents, businesses and stakeholders knew what help and support was available and how to access it;
· Maximising take up, reducing stigma and putting dignity at the heart of what was said and done; and
· Ensuring residents know what they could do to help by building on community assets, solidarity and taking a strengths based approach.
There had been a significant print run for the Haringey Here to Help Leaflet. An October half term leaflet had also been produced, which included information on free school meals. There were also plans for a cost of living podcast on help for parents and carers. Work was currently taking place to establish warm banks. In addition, the expanded discretionary free school meal scheme had been continued as well as school holiday provision during the October half term.
The next steps would involve ongoing internal co-ordination, with a cross Council officer working group co-ordinating delivery. There would also be partner outreach and engagement, including statutory partners and the voluntary and community sector. In addition, further Cabinet in the Community sessions would be arranged, including one with schools. Impact would be monitored using a wide range of data and engagement with communities and include a strong focus on understanding the impact on children and young people.
The Panel highlighted the following matters:
• Strategic work was being undertaken by other boroughs, such as Camden, Enfield and Tower Hamlets. In particular, Enfield had used the landlord licensing scheme to bring about improvements in living conditions for tenants; and
• Severe challenges were currently being faced by food banks. In addition to providing food, they were also providing advice and support for those using them. This was provided by volunteers. The people who were being given advice would not necessarily otherwise seek help. Food banks would benefit from some assistance from relevant Council finance support teams.
Ms Taylor stated that it was recognised that there was a need for long term strategic support. There was a risk of treating the current crisis as short term as the causes and trends showed that it was likely to be long term. Work was therefore taking place on what the long term approach should be. This was looking at the levers that the Council had to mitigate the impact and how to reduce stigma. She liked the approach that was being followed in Tower Hamlets and Haringey’s emerging strategy was developing along similar lines. The example of Enfield’s work was also useful.
There were plans to engage with food banks to understand the pressures that they were under and how work could be undertaken with them on a long term basis. The need for advice and support in community settings had become apparent in recent engagement. The role of the community and voluntary sector was key to this. It was recognised that they were often better placed to reach some communities than Council provided services. It would be addressed in the emerging strategy.
In answer to another question, she stated that the leaflet regarding help that was available had already been circulated to a range of settings including welcome hubs, libraries and food banks. It was also available on the Haringey Here to Help webpage. It had been translated into all of the main community languages. Consideration was being given to circulating it too all homes in the borough. The Panel welcomed the translation of the leaflet and felt that community centres should be targeted for circulation so that all communities were aware of the support available.