Cost of Living Support Update
North Ayrshire Council · 29 October 2024
Back to Cabinet — 29 October 2024 and its agenda
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 October 2024 Cabinet Title: Cost of Living Support Update Purpose: To provide a further progress report on the response to the cost- of-living crisis. Recommendation: Click here to enter text.It is recommended that Cabinet: a) Notes the progress the Council has made in the development and delivery of support in relation to the cost- of-living crisis and towards the Council Plan priority of a wellbeing economy; and b) Agrees to the provision of future updates through the Council’s performance management system and the annual Community Planning Partnership performance report. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 Addressing poverty and inequalities is a key priority for North Ayrshire Council. The Council continues to develop and deliver a range of supports to mitigate the impacts of the current cost-of-living crisis for residents. 1.2 Previous progress reports have been presented to Cabinet during 2022 and 2023. This latest report provides a further update on the current activity relevant to the cost-of-living crisis and proposed next steps, along with actions taken to support the delivery of the Council Plan priority of a wellbeing economy, and finally proposals to mainstream future cost-of-living support reporting through the Council’s performance management reporting system and annual Community Planning Partnership performance report. 2. Background 2.1 The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has resulted in a series of challenges for residents, communities and businesses in North Ayrshire. Since 2022, the ongoing recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, conflict in Ukraine and economic unpredictability, compounded by the energy crisis, increased inflation and increased interest rates, has resulted in higher household prices which have created hardship and financial exclusion, including for North Ayrshire residents. 2.2 Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation which peaked at 11.1 per cent. Inflation has now returned to a more normal rate of 2.2% in the 12 months to August 2024 according to the Office for
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National Statistics (ONS). However, this does not mean that prices for goods and services have fallen but rather that the costs are rising more slowly than they have been. This means that households continue to face unprecedented financial pressures. 2.3 The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its forecast for UK economic growth in 2024 from 0.5% to 0.7%. In July it reiterated its forecast of 1.5% growth in 2025. Interest rates, which had peaked at 5.25% for many months, are now at 5% with further potential rate cuts being seen as possible at the next meeting of the Bank of England in November. However, the developing conflict in the Middle East and uncertainty over potential impact on oil prices means economic unpredictability remains. 2.4 Against this backdrop, the cost of living remains challenging for many residents of North Ayrshire. The latest ONS update in May 2024 showed that employment rates (70.3%) had decreased compared to the previous year (71.3%) and were lower than across Scotland as a whole in the year ending December 2023. Levels of economic inactivity, which means those not in employment but not seeking work such as retired people, those caring for others or people who are unable to work due to sickness and disability, were 27.7%, a rise from 25.2% in the previous year and again higher than the Scottish average of 22.5%. This is partly due to the demographics of an aging population in North Ayrshire. 2.5 The rate of people claiming unemployment related benefits dropped slightly from 4.6% in March 2023 to 4.4% in March 2024. 2.6. In June 2022, Cabinet agreed to set up a new Board, chaired by the Leader of the Council and comprising senior NAC officers, representatives of the Third Sector Interface and NHS Ayrshire and Arran to tackle child poverty. With the escalation in cost-of-living concerns this board was expanded to oversee the Council’s response to the cost-of -living crisis. The strategic approach to the themes in relation to child poverty and cost-of living were identified by the Board and explored in conjunction with Community Planning partners, third sector representatives and residents. 2.8 In light of the ongoing importance of the work, the CPCOL Board recommends that it should be mainstreamed as a workstream of the Community Planning Partnership (CPP), recognising its responsibility to share resources and to improve equality of outcomes. This change will include the development of a new and robust governance framework for work around both child poverty and cost of living interventions. It proposed that future reporting on progress will be captured through regular updates on specific programmes of work using the Council’s Pentana performance management system and reported through the CPP’s annual performance reporting. The CPP representatives will participate in regular topic-based sessions which will focus on specific areas of interest. Elected members will be further kept up to date through regular items in North Ayrshire News highlighting any specific projects and pieces of work. 2.8 The Council’s three-year Child Poverty Strategy was presented to Cabinet in June 2023.The first yearly progress report was published after Cabinet approval on 27 August 2024. The progress report highlights action that has been taken throughout 2023 and 2024, based on the three key drivers of child poverty - income from employment, income from social security and the cost of living.
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2.9 The Council has made substantial investments in tackling child poverty and the cost- of-living crisis. This paper provides an update on present funds and related activity as detailed in Appendix 1. 2.10 The themes which work focuses on are Energy Advice and Support; Food, Clothing and Essentials; Finance and Benefits; Children and Families; Health and Wellbeing; Business and Community (including transport for work); Support for Communities and Workforce Wellbeing. 2.11 Energy Advice and Support is a key area of focus given the ongoing cost of utilities, the rise of the price cap in October 2024, and recent decision-making in relation to the Winter Fuel Payment. The Council’s Energy Smart scheme has continued to evolve and provides three key elements to support residents: • Free and impartial energy efficiency advice through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) helpline. A partnership with the Energy Agency (a charitable organisation appointed by Scottish Government to manage the HES programme) was launched on 19 September 2022 and 8,750 North Ayrshire households have received energy advice since that date to help lower their bills. • The Energy Smart Emergency Support scheme launched on 31 October 2022 to provide financial assistance over the winter periods, in the form of a crisis payment. The allocation of support payments is as follows: o 2022/23 - £441k to 1,489 households o 2023/24 - £192k to 1,200 households o 2024/25 - £342k available Posters and awareness materials are provided to various locations including food larders, libraries, community centres, GP surgeries, churches and community shops, information is shared with schools via head teachers, and to Council employees through message on payslips. Display screens in libraries and offices are also used to promote the scheme. • The creation of a £1.726 million fund to carry out home improvements to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy bills has enabled the appointment of an installation contractor. The scheme offers roof insulation, cavity wall insulation, floor insulation, LED bulbs, draft proofing, temperature controls, and/or electric storage heating. Households where the home is owned or is privately rented and have income of £43,662 or less can qualify. Additionally, there are other energy saving support methods households can utilise: • The ‘ECO4 Flex’ and ‘Great British Insulation Scheme’ offer multiple insulation and decarbonisation measures. Qualifying private households must meet the criteria such as SAP band D to G and household gross income less than £31.000. • The ‘Heat and Energy Efficient Scotland - Area Based Scheme’ is Scottish Government led and includes insulation and decarbonisation measures. Households in fuel poverty, in deprived areas, with Council tax band A-C will qualify.
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2.12 Examples of other key areas of progress include: • The development of the No Wrong Door approach where all Council staff are encouraged to ensure residents reach the support and advice which they need continues to be developed. Actions include the development of a lanyard card with the Customer Services number on it which will slide into staff lanyards behind their ID. These can also be kept in car glove boxes, laptop bags, kit bags etc. The lanyard card is for colleagues to hand over to clients/residents they meet who ask how to access Cost-of-Living support. Trials of the approach are being held by some Care at Home teams and schools. A No Wrong Door Toolbox Talk has been created to help managers explain the approach to teams. A video was also created to help managers explain the policy to staff. • A total of 10,000 Cost of Living information leaflets have now been distributed to venues across North Ayrshire. These are now in a range of places and venues, including community centres, libraries, GP surgeries, KA Leisure venues, schools and community larders. The aim of the leaflets is to get information to the most hard- to-reach people in our communities. There is also a digital version of the leaflet which is available. • Ongoing information/features/videos/graphics are posted on social media channels on helpful issues like employability support, the free reusable nappy scheme, benefit and grant advice, the Fairer Food network, free family activities and national campaigns including Challenge Poverty Week during October 2024. • Largs Food Hub opened in February 2024 and Millport Community Shop opened in July 2024, taking the total to 16 larders across the authority and a supported Waste Food Café model on Arran. Work is ongoing to support the IMC Project who operate a Community Fridge in Saltcoats, to become part of the Fairer Food Network and receive financial support. • Extension of the £50 early years clothing grant for eligible families. • Expansion of the Winter Warmer Breakfast initiative in secondary schools for 2024/25. This is a service which has been offered over the last two winter periods and is free to all secondary school pupils. 2.13 While the focus of this report is primarily on the response to the cost-of living-crisis, that programme of work operates hand-in-hand with our child poverty interventions (see paragraph 2.8 above) and should also be viewed in the wider context of our strategic priority to transition to a wellbeing economy. 2.14 Some of the wider actions taken to progress our Wellbeing ambitions and contribute to action on child poverty and the cost-of-living agenda include: • During 2023/24 our Money Matters Team supported residents to access £20,081,590 in financial gains from 5,739 referrals. • We are funding two additional School Welfare Rights Officers providing financial advice and assistance to parents and carers. This is based on strong evidence,
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with our current School Welfare Rights Officer obtaining £560,509 for secondary school parents during 2023/24. This is an average of £5,387 per referral. • 20,037 young people have a valid Young Scot National Entitlement Card (NEC) in North Ayrshire. This represents 90% of the estimated population of 11 to 25 year olds in the area. This is a high level of uptake and enables access to free bus transport and a range of discounts on products and services. • Active Schools’ extracurricular clubs are free of charge across all school settings, supporting over 9,000 young people across the last year to be active. • All eight mainland Secondary Schools now have access to mentoring services following the successful recruitment of MCR Pathway Co-ordinators with discussions in progress to deliver the service to Arran High School. • Our Community Investment Fund has approved funding for 13 applications over the year, totalling £721,912. • To date, 53 council assets are now owned, leased or managed by community groups. • As part of a circular economy approach, 2,015 households were assisted to furnish their homes in North Ayrshire due to our bulky waste reuse partner Cunninghame Furniture Recycling Company collecting and processing reusable items such as mattresses and furniture. • As part of our ‘No Wrong Door’ approach, we have created a new streamlined customer referral process. This new process will ensure that customers only share their information with us once and are directed to the most appropriate service provider (internal council services and external support services). • We were recently successful in our bid to participate in the Scottish Government’s Fairer Futures Partnership (FFP) (the next phase of the Child Poverty Pathfinder) aligned to our no wrong door and single shared assessment work noted above. 2.15 Real lived experience remains at the heart of the design of policy and activities. A Parent Group has been established in Employability and a Champion’s Board network of over 30 care experienced young people has been developed. This is in addition to established approaches such as our Joint Cabinet (attended by 110 young people). 2.16 Going forward, alongside continued development and delivery of the range of support at Appendix 1 to embed delivery as business-as-usual, key areas of focus will include: • ensuring residents can access available Cost-of-Living support quickly • improving out-of-school care provision; and • improving the data that is gathered on the six priority groups of families so that support resources can be better targeted 3. Proposals
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3.1 It is recommended that Cabinet: a) Notes the progress the Council has made in developing support in relation to the cost- of-living crisis and towards the Council Plan priority of a wellbeing economy; and b) Agrees to the provision of future updates through the Council’s performance management system and the annual Community Planning Partnership performance report. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 None – all work is financed through previously agreed funding streams or existing resources. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 The Council has a duty to produce a Child Poverty Strategy and Report and to ensure that inequalities are addressed and outcomes improved through its work, including its Community Planning Partnership work. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 This workstream is centred on reducing inequalities. Mainstreaming to the CPP aligns it with their overarching objective to tackle inequalities. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 Energy Smart advice not only helps residents to reduce their utilities bills but also to reduce their use of energy potentially reducing carbon emissions from their household. Key Priorities 4.6 The proposals within the report help to deliver the North Ayrshire Council Plan priority of Wellbeing through ensuring that people have access to the support and advice they need. Community Wealth Building 4.7 This work supports the principles of Community Wealth Building by increasing the money in local residents budgets and communities through maximising income. 5. Consultation 5.1 Our work around the cost of living is co-designed with our partners, communities and those with lived experience.
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David W. Hammond Executive Director, Communities and Housing For further information please contact Rhonda Leith, Head of Service, Connected Communities, on Insert author’s phone number. Background Papers Appendix 1 – Cost of Living Progress Update October 2024