Agenda item

This Council believes funding allocated by the Government to Leeds City Council for the Household Support Fund to help residents in financial difficulties is not enough given the current Cost of Living crisis which has followed 12 years of austerity.

 

Council is very concerned that the amount allocated to support residents in Leeds works out at no more than £9 per person meaning many families will not receive the support that they need at an increasingly difficult time financially for many people.

 

Council calls on Government to urgently increase funding allocated via the Household Support Fund to ensure residents in Leeds who need support both now and through the winter can afford to meet the price of food, heating and essential living costs.

 

It was moved by Councillor Harland, seconded by Councillor Farley thatthis Council believes funding allocated by the Government to Leeds City Council for the Household Support Fund to help residents in financial difficulties is not enough given the current Cost of Living crisis which has followed 12 years of austerity.

 

Council is very concerned that the amount allocated to support residents in Leeds works out at no more than £9 per person meaning many families will not receive the support that they need at an increasingly difficult time financially for many people.

 

Council calls on Government to urgently increase funding allocated via the Household Support Fund to ensure residents in Leeds who need support both now and through the winter can afford to meet the price of food, heating and essential living costs.

 

An amendment was moved by Councillor B Anderson, seconded by Councillor Smith

 

Delete all after “This Council” and replace with the following:

 

“notes the range of global factors affecting the cost of living for households nationally and in Leeds and welcomes the actions being taken by the government in response.

 

“Council welcomes government action that saw a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England but regrets that the ruling administration were unable to administer this, resulting in thousands of people receiving double payments totalling £3.7m and unknown costs in officer time to deal with the consequences.

 

“Council welcomes the unprecedented levels of support provided by the government through the pandemic. In addition, measures announced by the government in the Autumn Budget and subsequently will help vulnerable households in Leeds, such as:

 

·  Increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour

·  Cutting fuel duty following 11 years of freezing it

·  £15bn energy bill rebate package worth up to £550 each for around 28 million households

·  £650 Cost of Living payment for those on benefits

·  £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment to 8 million pensioner households

·  £140 million in Discretionary Housing Payments supporting families with rent or housing costs, and an extra £65m to support low-income households with rent debts

·  Increased generosity of the Local Housing Allowance for housing benefit, with more than 1.5m households benefiting from an additional £600 a year.

·  £150 disability cost of living payment

·  £1bn in Household Support Fund

 

“Council notes that there have been two rounds of Household Support funding since November 2021 amounting to £7.1m each for Leeds, meaning total allocated funding through this scheme is £14.2m in the past 8 months. Council further notes that funding is targeted at those most in need meaning that the funding will broadly be targeted at the 63,000 households that claim Council Tax Support in Leeds which would equate to approximately £225 per household.

 

“Council remains concerned about increasing inflation and the potential consequences for interest rates, mortgages for Leeds residents and debt, particularly given Leeds City Council’s £2.165bn net external debt.

 

“This Council therefore asks the Chief Executive to bring a report to Executive Board this year setting out the implications of higher inflation and higher interest rates on MRP and net external debt.

 

A second amendment was moved by Councillor Hart-Brooke, seconded by Councillor Howley

 

Replace all after "This Council" with:

 

"notes that:

 

On 1 April 2022, Ofgem increased the energy price cap by 54 per cent.

 

In light of the increased energy price cap, the average standard tariff energy bill will increase by £693 per year. The average pre-pay meter energy bill will increase by £708 per year (Ofgem, 2022).

 

On 6 April 2022, the Government increased National Insurance by 1.25 percentage points, which is projected to cost the average family in Leeds an additional £600 a year.

 

The Government has suspended the pensions ‘triple lock’ for 2022/3, meaning Leeds pensioners will see a rise of 3.1 per cent this year (instead of 8.3 per cent under the triple lock formula). This year, this will cost pensioners in Leeds hundreds of pounds.

 

Council notes the decision taken in June 2022 to impose a ‘Windfall Tax’ on the super-profits of oil and gas companies and to redistribute this as a one-off payment of £400 to households later this year. Council notes that the Windfall Tax was first proposed by Sir Ed Davey MP, leader of the Liberal Democrats, in May 2022. Though the Windfall Tax is welcome, Council believes it does not go nearly far enough and the Government should be doing much more to support local people through the Cost of Living crisis.

 

This Council therefore declares a ‘Cost of Living Emergency’ and calls on the Government to:

 

·  Immediately reduce the standard rate of VAT from 20 per cent to 17.5 per cent for one year, saving the average household in Leeds a further £600 this year.

·  Immediately re-introduce the pensions triple lock to support Leeds pensioners.

·  Immediately restore the Universal Credit supplement of £20 per week, which was cancelled by the Government in September 2021.

 

Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to express the Council’s demands for VAT to be cut to 17.5%, for the re?introduction of the pensions triple-lock and for the £20 Universal Credit supplement to be restored.

 

Finally, Council calls for a local Cost-of-Living Emergency Summit, with stakeholders, including Citizens Advice, Food Banks, Local Trades Unions, and Chambers of Commerce and will invite local MPs to attend this hybrid meeting.

 

The amendments in the name of Councillor B Anderson and Councillor Hart-Brooke were declared lost and upon being put to the vote it was

 

RESOLVED – Thatthat this Council believes funding allocated by the Government to Leeds City Council for the Household Support Fund to help residents in financial difficulties is not enough given the current Cost of Living crisis which has followed 12 years of austerity.

 

Council is very concerned that the amount allocated to support residents in Leeds works out at no more than £9 per person meaning many families will not receive the support that they need at an increasingly difficult time financially for many people.

 

Council calls on Government to urgently increase funding allocated via the Household Support Fund to ensure residents in Leeds who need support both now and through the winter can afford to meet the price of food, heating and essential living costs.

 

 

On the requisition of Councillor Lennox and Councillor Coupar the voting on the motion was recorded as follows;

 

YES – 71

 

Akhtar, Almass, Arif, Bithell, Bowden, Bromley, Brooks, Burke, Carlill, Coupar, Cunningham, Dowson, Dye, Farley, Flint, France-Mir, Garthwaite, Garvani, Gibson, Grahame, Gruen, Hamilton, Harland, Hayden, Heselwood, A Hussain, Z Hussain, Illingworth, Iqbal, Jenkins, Khan, Lennox, Lewis, Maloney, Marshall-Katung, Martin, McKenna, Midgley, Mulherin, Pryor, Rafique, Ragan, Renshaw, Ritchie, Scopes, Sewards, Shahzad, Sharpe, Smart, E Taylor, Thomson, Truswell, Tudor, Venner, Walshaw, Wilson, Wray, Dixon, Blackburn, Carlisle, Forsaith, Finnigan, Kidger, Newton, Senior, Downes, Golton, Campbell, Chapman, Hart-Brooke, and Howley.

 

NO – 15

 

Alderson, B Anderson, C Anderson, Amanda Carter, Cohen, Firth, Flynn, Foster, Harrington, Lamb, Richards, D Seary, S Seary, Smith and Stephenson.

 

ABSTAIN – 0