a)    Rachel Silcock (Community Empowerment & Operational Lead, Trading Standards and Health Improvement) will deliver an update on the ‘Cost of Living Taskforce’ to the Board.

b)    Citizen’s Advice will lead a presentation on ‘Cost of Living’ data and citizens experiences.

Rachel Silcock (Community Empowerment & Operational Lead) delivered an update on the Council’s Cost of Living Taskforce, and highlighted the following points-

a)     The City Council had recently established a Cost of Living Taskforce, which included organisations such as Citizens Advice, Plymouth Energy Community, Food Plymouth, the Churches, and Community Connections;

b)    The recent economic downturn, combined with the ongoing impact of Covid 19 and other geopolitical events had severely increased the Cost of Living. This had created a renewed focus for the Council on its ongoing work around debt, poverty, and financial wellbeing; 

c)     The Impact of the cost of living had disproportionality effected households on low incomes, those in social housing, the homeless or vulnerably housed, single person households, and the elderly/ young population;

d)    The reduction in peoples ‘disposable income’ had forced tough prioritisation decisions for people over heating, eating and paying debts. Poverty was closely intertwined with health and wellbeing, with financial pressures having negative impacts though poor nutrition, mental health, and cold/ damp homes;

e)     Many avenues of support were already in place across the city, such as-

                         i.         6 Wellbeing Hubs, providing advice, information and health support;

                       ii.         Complex Needs Alliance, providing support to those facing homelessness, substance misuse and mental health issues;

                      iii.         Plymouth Energy Community, providing advice on energy efficiency;

                      iv.         Food Plymouth, providing coordination of food aid and food supply.

f)      The Cost of Living Taskforce aimed to provide urgent support those in crisis, support the emerging needs of those identified as most at risk, and build long-term resilience through working with communities and the voluntary sector. This was organised around 3 core themes-

                       v.         Managing Finances;

                      vi.         Managing at home (housing, heating and eating);

                     vii.         Mental health and wellbeing.

g)     The role of the taskforce was to coordinate the ongoing work of individual organisations, voluntary groups and authorities in providing clear, coherent and accessible support.

Emma Handley and Jaroslava Hurtikova delivered a report on the ‘Cost of Living’ on behalf of Citizens Advice Plymouth to the Board, and highlighted the following points-

h)    Britain was facing one of the greatest Cost of Living challenges in decades, forcing people into hard financial decisions. Since April 2022, over 2,500 Plymouth residents had contacted Citizens Advice for support, with 69,000 searches being made for Citizens Advice Plymouth support, online. Of these, over 63% of requests for advice were made in relation to the cost of living, and 60% of people lived with a long-term health condition;

i)      An estimated 19% of Plymouth’s Children already lived in ‘poverty’, with fuel price increases and upcoming winter conditions predicted to further worsen standards of living;

j)      Citizen’s Advice research showed that the cost of living had been gradually increasing since early 2019, with a peak reached in July 2022;

k)     Within 2 weeks of opening the ‘Household Support Fund’, Citizens Advice had received over 700 applications and was forced to close the application period early;

l)      Statistics showed an increasing demand for foodbanks, fuel vouchers, and other charitable grants. There had also been a sharp increase in demand for support with Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and disability benefit applications;

m)   While Citizen’s Advice Plymouth’s statistics had showed a drop in demand for debt advice, this did not reflect a true picture, but was instead the result of contract changes and the reduction in specialised debt relief advice staff from 4, to 1. Plymouth had one of the highest insolvency rates across the country;

n)    There had been a significant increase in evictions for both private and social housing over the past couple of months;

o)    Citizens Advice statistics showed that 1/3 of households reaching out for support were classified as ‘disabled’, with a further 19% classified as ‘unemployed’. The largest group seeking support were single person households, particularly those with dependent children. Furthermore, there were statistically more females seeking cost of living support through Citizens Advice Plymouth, than males. There had been a rise in the number of areas across the city living with ‘depravation’, with St. Peter and the Waterfront, Devonport, Stoke, Efford and Lipson, and Honicknowle being impacted the greatest.

In response to question raised by the Committee, it was reported that-

p)    The Cost of Living Taskforce worked directly with schools to provide support and education around the cost of living, including the provision of free meals for families in hardship over the school holiday periods, through the Household Support Fund;

q)    There had been a spike in ‘no-fault evictions’ after the pandemic due to a temporary hold put on them during lockdown. This had become one of the most common causes of homelessness, and had resulted in unprecedented levels of temporary Bed and Breakfast accommodation used by the Council;

r)     The Cost of Living Taskforce was an action focussed group that collectively identified key issues to be addressed and used smaller sub-groups to coordinate actions.

s)     The Cost of Living Taskforce, chaired by Councillor Rebecca Smith, did not currently have representation from the opposition (Labour). An invitation had been sent out, and further work would be conducted to bring together cross-party working.

t)     The Cost of Living Crisis was a city-wide agenda, with every individual, organisation and authority responsible for working together to create meaningful change and support.

The Committee thanked Citizens Advice Plymouth for their comprehensive report, and agreed to-

1.     Note the report;

2.     Refer the report and recommendations contained within, to the Cost of Living Taskforce for consideration and integration into their wider strategy.