Lewisham Council declares a Cost of Living Emergency
- 61,000 local people falling behind on their bills
- Four out of ten households living in either fuel or food poverty
- £7 million already spent supporting local people since the pandemic, but calls on Government to do much more and tackle the emergency immediately
Lewisham Council has already provided over £7 million worth of support since the pandemic, and as part of the response to the cost of living crisis, from council tax support, food and fuel vouchers, to help with rent payments and securing somewhere to live.
In addition, Round 3 of the Household Support Fund to 31 March 2023 (£2.66m) will be used to support children who receive free school meals during the holidays, provide financial help to some households yet to receive any of the cost of living payments from government, and providing some support with energy efficiency. The remaining funds will be available through an application scheme in the New Year.
Councillors also resolved to work with partners to support local communities, particularly the most vulnerable, through the coming months, by:
- Continuing the Warm Welcomes programme across the borough. Twelve warm spaces have opened, run by the council in libraries and council buildings, so people can stay warm during the day and access financial advice and our jobs and skills programmes
- Working with the community, Lewisham Mayoresses and local food banks through the Lewisham Food Action Plan to address food insecurity
- Working with the Citizens Advice Bureau, Lewisham Local, Age UK Southwark & Lewisham, and other organisations within the voluntary and community sector to ensure residents can access the support and financial advice they need
- Continuing our award-winning apprenticeships programme and jobs and skills service to support Lewisham residents into good, sustainable jobs
- Building on Lewisham Council’s status as a Living Wage Council to become a Living Wage Place to create more well-paid local jobs for local people
The motion includes a call to Government to fund free school meals during school holidays, provide protections to those in the private rented sector, while ensuring that recent commitments in the Autumn Statement around the increase in benefits in line with inflation and tackling low pay are delivered. The motion also points out that everyone pays the same for their energy costs and standing charges, regardless of whether they are on a pre-payment meter or pay via direct debit. With energy bills uncapped, many households will end up spending much more, with those on pre-payment meters paying even more for their energy than those who pay by other methods. This could be up to £1,130 per year.
Cllr Amanda de Ryk, Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategy, said: “It is an absolute travesty that we are at this point. The Council is working urgently to respond to the crisis even though there is not nearly enough funding coming to Lewisham from Government. We need much more in order to make sure no one gets left behind. We’re facing a perfect storm of budget savings, increased demand on services, rising energy costs and inflation. Government needs to wake up and do more to address this emergency immediately.
As with the pandemic we know we can’t do it alone. We are working closely with Lewisham’s brilliant charities and other third sector partners so we can continue to coordinate and target our approach to helping those most in need.
Work has already begun to deliver a network of places where residents can get a warm welcome when it’s cold this winter. And we have a new dedicated online cost of living support hub on our website which guides people towards further support. We’re also looking at longer term measures such as getting local people into higher paying, sustainable jobs.
We know that we need to do more, and we will, but we are calling on Government to do the same and step up.”