21 March 2024

Supporting residents with the cost of living

Councillors will be discussing a new plan to continue supporting residents through the national cost of living crisis at the Full Council meeting on Thursday 28 March.

While the cost of living is no longer receiving the national attention it did, the challenges in the city remain acute.

The Cost of Living Action plan sets out how we will work with partners to combine resources and expertise to collectively meet the challenge.

It follows consultation and engagement with the city on the draft Brighton & Hove Cost of Living plan, published in August last year.

The goal is for Brighton & Hove to be a fairer and more inclusive city where everyone can thrive.

As set out in the council plan for a better Brighton & Hove, we will do everything in our power to reduce inequality and tackle poverty, exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis.

The Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund

A key part of the plan is the introduction of the Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund, which will draw together different funding streams to provide an ongoing safety net as the city continues to address poverty, beyond the cost of living crisis.

The Fairness Fund was agreed as part of the cost of living support at the Budget Council in February, alongside an uplift in the earnings thresholds for Council Tax Reduction, in line with inflation to maintain the level of support at real term levels.

The government has since announced the Household Support Fund will continue for 6 months from April to September, and this will be put into the Fairness Fund for that period.

With core council funding of £614,000 expected to be provided alongside other reallocated external funding and the Household Support Fund, we expect to have a total of £2.97 million available for the Fairness Fund – although the confirmation of the exact value of the Household Support Fund is awaited from government and we will have to use this element of the funding by the end of September.

The proposals are to use the Fairness Fund, incorporating the Household Support Fund, to offer a mix of direct support to residents struggling to pay for food, energy and other essentials, as well as funding community and voluntary sector initiatives offering support through food banks, money and energy advice, and more.

This includes food vouchers in the holidays for children receiving free school meals. A recent urgency decision ensures these will be distributed in time for the forthcoming Easter holidays and there will be further distributions for the spring half-term and summer holidays.

The new Fairness Fund also aims to mitigate some of the impact of the loss of the city’s Communities Fund by setting aside an element of the fund for community and voluntary organisations and groups to apply to.

Supporting those most in need

Councillor Jacob Taylor, Deputy Leader and lead member for finance lead, said: “We know that many Brighton & Hove residents are continuing to feel the effects of the cost of living crisis, and that some families are struggling to pay for the basics.

“That’s why we were so pleased, despite a really difficult budget round, to be able to allocate council money to create the Brighton & Hove Fairness Fund, which will support those most in need.

“We lobbied hard for national government for the continuation on the household Support Fund, which has been vital part of the cost of living support on offer.

“The 6 month extension of this announced in the spring budget does provide much-needed funds.

“However, the lateness of the announcement and the short term window of the funding does continue to make it extremely difficult to plan the support we can offer, and we will continue to call upon national government to do more to support our communities.”