Agenda item

David Whittle, Director of Strategy, Policy, Relationships & Corporate Assurance, was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Whittle introduced the report which set out Kent County Council’s response to the cost-of-living crisis. The paper highlighted that whilst the primary responsibility for easing the crisis at the population level sat with Government, through existing schemes and grant programmes following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council already had in place several support programmes that were helping vulnerable residents in Kent with financial hardship and cost-of-living issues. The report also set out a range of next steps, particularly regarding an enhanced response working alongside strategic partners. Issues of the inflationary pressures on KCC services or budgets directly, or those of our providers, would be considered through the budget development process.

2.    Members were advised that the report was based on the paper intended for County Council on 15 September, which was postponed due to the death of the Queen. An addendum paper had since been produced, summarising key announcements in the interim, including energy support schemes for residents, businesses and non-domestic users. This information was detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

3.    Further to comments and questions, it was noted:

·         A third round of Household Support Fund was expected to be provided by the Government. This was awaiting final approval from the Treasury.

·         That a multifaceted, coordinated approach with partners at a local level was essential in ensuring that frontline teams had greater visibility of those experiencing financial and/or social difficulty so that they could be easily identified and provided with the right help, at the right time, through the correct organisation.

·         KCC had launched a secure referral system called ReferKent across the county for organisations to refer individuals for financial advice and wider holistic support. The system would also provide the ability to track referrals.

·         The scope of the Financial Hardship programme (initially established to support people struggling with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic) was being expanded to support new workstreams which were required to help tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

·         The Integrated Care Partnership was identified as the vehicle through which Kent and Medway partners could work together to jointly address the medium to longer term impact of the cost-of-living crisis.  A paper was due to be presented to the Integrated Care Partnership on 19^th October 2022 on the cost of living which would identify ways in which resources could be utilised.

4.    Miss Carey (Cabinet Member for Environment) advised that a number of environmental initiatives were being explored to help improve energy saving costs, including working with utility companies and identifying ways to reduce food wastage. The Environment team were also producing a bid to the public sector Decarbonisation Scheme. This grant would be used to help towards the cost of replacing domestic heating systems which were not included as part of the governments energy price cap scheme. If successful, the replacement programme would include Kent Primary schools.

5.    RESOLVED to note and endorse the recommendations as outlined in the report, and that a further report be presented to County Council on 20^th October.