We are experiencing the sharpest fall in living standards for decades. Inflation is at a 40-year high and is set to reach 13% by the end of the year. Costs for essential goods like energy, food, and fuel will have doubled in just five years.
The scale of the pressures that people are facing is overwhelming and the prognosis is grim. People who were previously donating to food banks are now using them. Councils are once again providing a lifeline for our communities as we see children going to school without having had a proper meal, parents unable to afford to put on the cooker, and families facing increasing financial pressures.
The cost of living in London was already high. A recent survey shows one in ten Londoners have fallen behind on their bills. Private rents in the capital have jumped 15% over the past year alone. With private sector tenants in the capital spending almost 40% of their income on rent, the reality is that massive numbers of Londoners are at heightened risk of financial crisis and homelessness. In the context of London already suffering the highest homelessness rates in the country, with 150,000 homeless Londoners living in temporary accommodation arranged by their borough, the outlook is dire.
These challenges aren’t unique to London. It’s unlikely there is a council in the country that is not seeing growing evidence every day of residents struggling with the cost of living. Community organisations are seeing their own funding issues and food banks are reporting that donations have reduced rapidly just as need is growing exponentially.
Our public and community services are surviving on the power of the love and dedication of burnt-out staff.
These are immensely difficult times. This is why, as we did during the pandemic, local government is stepping forward to provides the community leadership and support we are best placed to give.
London boroughs have sprung into action. Across the capital, councils are implementing a wide range of measures designed to help the low-income households most vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures.
From increasing investment in council tax support schemes through to creating warm spaces for those who cannot afford to heat their own homes and extending free school meals provision, each borough is responding to its community’s most pressing needs.
The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated beyond all doubt the crucial role councils play in these sorts of emergency situations – and we’re putting that experience to good use. Once again, we’re working closely with local voluntary and community sector groups, supporting mutual aid networks, and using all available resources for the benefit of those most in need.
London boroughs are also working together. While each council will know its own community best and will be resolutely focused on its own residents, there is also real benefit to sharing knowledge and experience with each other and collaborating where possible.
But, at the same time as prioritising our response to the financial pressures facing our residents, we are also in a position where our own budgets are under immense and worsening strain.
London Councils’ analysis shows that surging inflation and demand for services mean boroughs in the capital need to make over £400m of savings this year, rising to £700m next year.
It will be impossible to achieve these levels of savings without cutting the very services that our communities are reliant on. Without that lifeline of support, it is no exaggeration to say that lives will be at risk.
There is huge willingness to help and enormous supplies of community spirit, but there needs to be national action. We are urging the government to take a different approach.
Again, the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic provides useful lessons. We need firm partnership between national and local government on tackling the cost of living. Just as the government boosted funding to help local authorities cope at the height of the Covid-19 emergency, the chancellor should ensure councils have the resources required to keep local services running and support those most in need.
There are specific, targeted interventions the government could also make that would soon pay dividends. Doubling the Household Support Fund would help councils keep residents out of financial crisis. Increasing the Local Housing Allowance would enable more private tenants to keep paying their rent and avoid homelessness, with the enormous costs to councils and the wider public sector that entails.
Councils are already delivering innovative and ambitious responses to the cost-of-living crisis, but we want to do more.
Ministers know the pivotal role we play in supporting our communities through tough times. The prognosis might be grim but it is not incurable. Now more than ever, we need to work together to securing the funding that will make the most difference on the ground, delivering lifelines to those who are struggling.
Cllr Georgia Gould is leader of Camden LBC and chair of London Councils
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