Agenda item

Report and Presentation of the Corporate Director of Resources.

The Board received the annual report of the Corporate Director of Resources on Poverty Issues, with accompanying presentation, given by Victoria Murray, Head of Transactional and Customer Services (for copy of report see file of minutes).

The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted that the report and presentation would refer to: the most recent welfare, economic and poverty indicators for County Durham; core expenditure which supports poverty related activities; progress in alleviating poverty; priority actions to be progressed during 2024-25.  She explained that the work of the Poverty Action Steering Group (PASG) was structured around four key objectives.

The Board noted Objective One related to the use of intelligence and data to target support to low-income household, and it was explained the objective was developed at the same time as the Inclusive Economic Strategy.  The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted funding in terms of the Household Support Fund, Department of Education and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and the work of the public sector together with the voluntary sector in terms of the ongoing delivery of the Poverty Strategy Action Plan.  She explained that the other objectives were: Objective Two - reduce the financial pressures on people facing or in poverty; Objective Three - increase individual, household and community resilience to poverty; and Objective Four - reduce barriers to accessing services for those experiencing financial insecurity.  She noted that there had been many projects with issues including food poverty, welfare and benefits advice, training and employability; Durham Index of Need, Credit Union, the change from ‘Warm Spaces’ to ‘Welcome Spaces’.  An example given was that of ‘The Bread and Butter Thing’ food network, with 15 hubs offering support to around 1,200 families.

The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted other local actions that were to help lift people out of poverty, as well recently received data sets that would help inform further actions.  She noted that the work of the Poverty Strategy and Action Plan would continue and would be monitored by the PASG.

Councillor R Bell noted the spend of the County Council was limited and likely to be more so in future and asked what data had been gathered in terms of being able to see what interventions and projects had been successful, noting the work of the Area Action Partnerships (AAPs).  The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted there was not a direct comparison between each project, however, each has a business case and evaluation carried out. 

She noted the work in terms of such evaluations, noting the change from ‘warm spaces’ to ‘welcome spaces’ following evaluation.  She added there were a lot of opportunities for social inclusion and reassured the Board that there was robust analysis of projects, however, noted the point made that Council resources, as well as those received from Government were reducing. 

Councillor R Bell noted that such performance data would be important in the future when the Council was making decisions on which projects had been effective.  The Head of Partnership and Community Engagement, Gordon Elliott, noted that often AAP projects were bespoke to their areas, however, there was independent evaluation, with those being monitored.  Councillor R Bell noted it was important that projects were bespoke given the varied urban and rural settings within the county.  The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted there had already been changes in funding and more discussions in terms of equity going forward.

P Sutton noted that in terms regeneration and the poverty gap widening between County Durham and England, whether much of the work was reactive, and asked as regards work to address root causes in terms of education and jobs.  The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted there were underlying areas to be addressed to tackle poverty, working across the Council’s Children and Young People, Adults and Health Services and Regeneration, Economy and Growth directorates.  She noted some work was reactive, for example in terms of the cost-of-living crisis and more people no longer ‘just about managing’ and now struggling and being ‘new’ in terms of trying to access support services for the first time.  She reiterated as regards lobbying of Government as a part of the overall approach.  The Chair noted the important of sharing best practice wherever possible. 

A Petty asked as regards the 16 ‘left behind towns’ and asked how information was pulled together so that those areas did not feel they were being ‘left behind’.  The Head of Transactional and Customer Services noted two studies that had been carried out, one more general, one looking at Middlesbrough and County Durham, and also the work via Durham Insight to gather data so it was readily available to inform a number of activities.  She reiterated the position in terms of the UKSPF and noted work in terms of helping those within those ‘left behind’ areas to be able to access services and to be able to claim any entitlements, such as Pension Credit, where appropriate.  She added there was a lot of work with the voluntary and community sector, working at the grass roots level to encourage uptake of services within our neighbourhoods and noted that this was factored into decision making.

The Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services noted that Child Poverty drove most of the issues within the service and noted the inequalities that existed within the county.  He noted that the range of initiatives was very good, however, we needed to be upfront about a number of issues being faced.  He explained that the North East was disproportionately impacted in terms of welfare reform, for example the two-child welfare cap.  He noted that 70 percent of children and young people in poverty were within working households and therefore one of the areas that needed to be addressed was our low-income economy.  He added that County Durham specific issues included our rural areas and associated accessibility and transport issues.  The Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services explained that childcare costs were also an important issue.  He noted while many elements were out of the Council’s control, it was important to be clear on the underlying issues and child poverty was now greater than in 2015, compounded by the issues with inflation and the economy more broadly.

Resolved:

(a)         That the progress being made by the Council and its partners in addressing the impacts of poverty and the wider issues including the ongoing impacts of the cost-of-living crisis be noted;

(b)         That the actions for priority progress during 2024/25 detailed within the report and previously approved by Cabinet, which continue to reflect changes in the current poverty landscape, learnings in the last year and build on successful delivery to date be noted.

Professor C Clarke left the meeting at 10.57am