The cost-of-living crisis and fair funding for essential services

Businesses, charities, community groups and councillors have called on the Government to give Bury a fair funding deal to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

They have written an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of his budget announcement on Thursday.

Full text and signatories below:

Dear Chancellor,

We write to you today, as many other councils, MPs, charities and community groups have, regarding the urgent and dangerous threat to essential services and our communities posed by the cost-of-living emergency.

For over a decade we have seen increasing demand for services, and in recent months this has escalated even further with more and more households requiring help.

On 9th September 2022 we convened a meeting with our voluntary, community and faith sectors, along with council representatives and local support organisations to discuss the Cost-of-Living Crisis. From this event

and dialogue since, we have heard some very stark and worrying evidence about the impact of Cost-of-Living Crisis so far, and the expected impact over the coming winter and beyond.

Prior to the Autumn Statement on 17th November, we would like you consider the following:

• Citizens Advice Bury & Bolton have reported a 17% increase in volumes of enquiries compared to last year, a 31% increase on people seeking advice on energy debts, and a doubling of people in need of foodbank/ crisis support compared to pre-Covid.
• Donations to our foodbanks are down as people tighten their purse strings to deal with the Cost-of-Living Crisis, while the number of people using foodbanks in our borough has increased.
• Most of the new referrals to foodbanks have been from working families. The knock-on effect of the rise in mortgages, private rents, energy, and food is having a detrimental and direct effect on referrals. The negative impact on people’s mental health as a result of this is substantial.
• Bury Council’s housing provider, Six Town Housing, has reported the highest number of customers in arrears on record and the highest value of rent arrears on record.
• Data from the most recent GM residents’ survey reveals 82% of Bury’s residents are worried about the rising cost of living, while 60% say that it is difficult to afford their energy costs.
• Demand for adult social care in Bury has increased by 14% compared to pre-pandemic, there are 550 vacant posts in the sector locally, the number of available care home beds is very low and the care home sector is running at very high occupancy over 98%, which is reducing choice to people who need care and creating problems with flow out of hospital.

We are extremely concerned about the impact that further public service cuts would have on residents and our ability to support them.

At the exact moment that many in our communities need public services more than ever, those services themselves are facing a cliff edge. It is a perfect storm with potentially severe consequences.

Many, if not all, providers of essential support services are already struggling. For example, Bury Council faces an estimated funding gap of at least £29m for 2023/24, but there is nothing left for the Council to cut that won't further harm its ability to support the most vulnerable and grow the local economy.

The Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, Cllr James Jamieson, recently spoke about a "tidal wave" of cost and inflationary pressures facing councils, and towns and cities across the country are all

saying the same thing - unless government urgently provide fair funding to councils, residents can expect council tax to continue to rise and services to be cut back or scrapped altogether.

Our asks:

Ahead of your statement in November we ask you to recognise the economic and humanitarian urgency of this situation and to give essential services the fair funding they need in order to provide necessary support, and to give residents and businesses as much direct financial support as possible.

We ask you specifically to consider the following measures:

• Provide councils and local partners with adequate, sustainable resources to maintain their operational and financial sustainability, and give them the freedom and flexibility to lead local approaches, for example prioritising vulnerable households ensuring that people on pre-paid energy meters can access fuel vouchers.
• Provide a fair, accessible, and sufficient benefits system, maintained at the rate of inflation, providing financial stability for low income working households, protecting those who are unable to work, reducing health inequalities and linking effectively with key local partners to improve employment outcomes and wellbeing.
• Raise the threshold to increase the number of people eligible for free prescriptions.
• To enable all Primary schools to provide children with a healthy breakfast and to provide universal free school meals for all Primary pupils.
• To harness a percentage of the profits made by the energy suppliers to fund debt and welfare advice.
• To do more to clamp down on loan sharks.
• To provide subsidies to anyone who is at risk of severe illness due to cold weather (those aged over 65, those with respiratory illness and those with mobility problems) to ensure they can keep their houses heated.
• A ban on evictions and repossessions until the Cost-of-Living Crisis is over.
• A ban on all disconnections (including people with pre-payment meters) and a ban and debt collection measures.

Failure to take these measures will lead to further increases in demand for local public services and therefore increased costs. Furthermore, in the past we have had to divert resources from early intervention and prevention to fund more expensive services reacting to crises in people’s lives. We are past that now; unless there is national support through the Autumn Statement local services will be unable to cope with the need to support people.

Bury has the people and the potential to do great things - we need government to back us in the short term now to get through this emergency, and in the long term to help us fulfil that potential.

We look forward to hearing from you and to your statement on 17th November.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Eamonn O'Brien, leader of Bury Council;

Geoff Little, chief executive of Bury Council;

Andrew Roberts, Avoira, Team Bury Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) member;

Andy Hazeldine, Age UK Bury, Team Bury SLG member;

Bernard Yaffe, The FED, Team Bury SLG member;

Catherine Fines, Team Bury SLG member;

Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations;

Cllr Charlotte Morris, cabinet member for culture and the economy;

Cllr Clare Cummings, cabinet member for housing services;

Cllr Elizabeth Fitzgerald, champion for food poverty;

Cllr Lucy Smith, cabinet member for children and young people;

Cllr Richard Gold, cabinet member for finance and communities;

Cllr Tahir Rafiq, cabinet member for corporate affairs and HR;

Cllr Tamoor Tariq, deputy leader of Bury Council;

Donna Ball, executive director of operations;

Francesca Vale, theme lead for food poverty;

Gary Malcomson, theme lead for finance and debt, Citizens Advice Bury and Bolton;

Jon Hobday, lead for the Bury Anti-Poverty Strategy;

Katie Jenkinson, theme lead for food poverty, Trust House;

Liz Cook, executive director of housing;

Lynne Ridsdale, deputy chief executive of Bury Council, executive director of corporate core, lead for Anti-Poverty Strategy;

Michelle Stott, affordable warmth, theme lead for housing and fuel poverty;

Christian Wakeford, MP for Bury South;

Paul Lakin, executive director of place;

Rachel Davis, theme lead for wellbeing and poverty;

Richard Wilkinson, CEO of Citizens Advice Bury and Bolton;

Robin Lawler, Six Town Housing, Team Bury SLG member;

Sam Evans, executive director of finance;

Sharon McCambridge, chief executive of Six Town

Housing;

Tina Harrison, theme lead for food poverty;

Trinity Foodbank, Growing Together Radcliffe;

Cllr Ayesha Arif;

Cllr Ciaron Boles;

Cllr Cristina Tegolo;

Cllr Deborah Quinn;

Cllr Debra Green;

Cllr Elliot Moss;

Cllr Gavin McGill;

Cllr Imran Rizvi;

Cllr Joan Grimshaw;

Cllr Kevin Peel;

Cllr Martin Hayes;

Cllr Mary Whitby;

Cllr Nathan Boroda;

Cllr Nikki Frith;

Cllr Noel Bayley;

Cllr Sandra Walmsley;

Cllr Sean Thorpe;

Cllr Shaheena Haroon;

Cllr Spencer Donnelly;

Cllr Tom Pilkington;

Cllr Ummrana Farooq.

ENDS

Press release issued: 15 November 2022.