To receive and consider the following:
(i) A report prepared by the Business Analytics and Research Unit in relation to child poverty in Powys.
(ii) A presentation by Ellie Harwood (Child Poverty Action Group).
(iii) The results of a survey commissioned by the Chair of the Committee.
As background information below is a link to the End Child Poverty Website which reviewed child poverty comparing 2014/15 and 2019/20.
Child poverty in your area 2014/15 – 2019/20 – End Child Poverty
The interactive map at the end of this page will show the position for Powys.
In addition, below is a link to the Frequently Asked Questions which explains the information used for the research.
FAQ on local child poverty research – End Child Poverty
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
· Poverty – Children and Young People in Powys – Report by the business Analytics and Research Unit.
· Presentation – Addressing Child Poverty in Powys – Ellie Harwood, Child Poverty Action Group.
· Child Poverty in Powys – Council Survey conducted between 12 to 30 August 2021.
Issues Discussed:
· There is evidence from the UK Coalition to end child poverty that once housing costs taken into account there is increasing child poverty in Powys. There are measures in the Corporate Improvement Plan and the question for scrutiny is whether the Council is doing enough or could be doing something differently.
· There are other determinants of poverty which link to other agencies which the Council works with through the Public Service Board.
Presentation - Ellie Harwood – Child Poverty Action Group.
· The Group is the leading charity campaigning to end child poverty in the UK. The Group is also part of the UK Coalition, which is committed to ending child poverty.
· The presentation is around defining and measuring Poverty, causes of poverty and how people can get out of poverty, child poverty trends and forecasting, and best practice examples.
· The standard technical definition for poverty used by governments is based on the distribution of all incomes across the UK, and identifying the median (half way point) of all incomes. The poverty line (after housing costs) is 60% below the median line. This means that 14m people in the UK live in households below the poverty line. For Wales this is 23% of the Welsh population, that is 700,000 people of which 195,000 are children.
· A minimum income standard is also used which identifies the minimum amount of money each type of household needs to participate in society, each a healthy diet, afford to heat homes properly, travel to work and basic costs of living. When a minimum income standard is used it sets a slightly higher line than the technical poverty line.
· Whichever method is used there are a significant number of people in Wales living below the poverty line and children are the group in the Welsh population that are most at risk. The poverty line also moves depending on the type of household as differing compositions of households require a different level of minimum income to achieve a standard of living.
· Child Poverty is relative, dynamic, scarring, often hidden, and possible to solve. It is also not static as in a given year one third of people leave poverty and another third enter into poverty. The nature of poverty and approaches to solving it have also changed over the last ten years.
· Mitigating policy decisions for elderly people has meant that lesser numbers of older people are now living in poverty.
· Common events pulling people into poverty (2019/20) – fall in benefit income; fall in earned income; fall in number of full time workers in household; change in household type.
· What helps people escape poverty – rise in benefit income; rise in household earnings; rise in numbers of workers in household; change in household type.
· 31% of children in Wales were living in poverty as the pandemic began, with the relative child poverty rate for Wales increasing by 3% between 2018-19 and 2019-20.
· In Powys 7224 children are living in poverty, 34.1% of all children and young people in the county (after the costs of housing have been taken out of the household budget).
· Free School Meals (FSM) is used as a proxy for poverty but not all children in poverty can access FSM.
· Child poverty is widespread in Powys even in the more affluent areas. There are few wards in Powys below 20% child poverty. The in-work poverty rate for Powys is significantly higher than the Welsh average.
· In terms of child food poverty, the Trussell Trust reported that between April 2020 and March 2021 the number of three day emergency food parcels given to children in Powys increased by 197% by comparison to 2019-20. The average rise across Wales was 7%.
· 42% of children below the poverty line do not qualify for FSM in Wales as their families are affected by in-work poverty and not eligible for other forms of support.
· Another concern is the £20 per week reduction in universal credit. The expectation is that one third of households with children in Wales will lose £1040 per year. 2800 people in Wales who were still furloughed in June 2021 will need to move onto universal credit if they cannot return to their jobs when furlough ends. In Powys 6678 households receive universal credit to help top up their incomes. A further 9672 households rely on old-style legacy benefits.
· What can local authorities do? – proactive engagement with affected communities by raising incomes and lowering costs. Examples of good practice were highlighted from Scotland to tackle child poverty at a local level.
· The responses to the Council survey indicated that there is an issue with child poverty, the situation is and will get worse due to the pandemic. Respondents also indicated that the Council's plans may not be effectively dealing with the challenges.
· Questions:
Given the Council's report and the presentation, how did the Council decide the measures in the current Corporate Improvement Plan (CIP) to address poverty. |
The vision was drawn up in 2017 and relates to that time. However, the Council can and has amended the plan on an annual basis. Poverty in Powys is not just about food and clothes, but also access to services e.g. Health services and specialised services, access to after school activities especially holiday type activities, there is fuel poverty in Powys and poverty of access to transport, as well as digital access. The Council is working on all of these but it does take time. The Mid Wales Growth Deal is seeking to improve digital access, improve jobs by providing better and higher paid jobs such as through the Global Centre for Rail Excellence. |
These issues have been in existence since 2015. |
The Council is still working on the CIP and working with partners. This piece of work can feed into next Corporate Plan. |
All Members should be made aware of the presentation. In relation to Free School Meals it is alarming that 42% of children do not qualify. Of the 58% that do qualify, how many are actually taking up Free School Meals. Is this better now due to parent pay? Does the Council need to publicise parent pay more to encourage families who might not wish to do so to take up free school meals. |
16% of children who are eligible for free school meals are not taking them up. Work started in 2016, with education and catering and cleaning staff working proactively together and a number who were eligible did take up the service. This is an exercise which could be undertaken again.
During July 2021, 100 families contacted Children's service. In relation to the issue over stigma, many people do not realise that they are in poverty. The Front door service for children's services links with education and early years (flying start). Children and young people need to have a say into what the Council can do, and the question is how the Council can access these young people to understand what they need to support them. |
As the Council's Poverty Champion, what is your assessment of CIP measures. If the measures are not effective what should be changed.
|
There is very little help currently. There are measures which will help some of the poverty issues but is does not get to those people who are really struggling such as those that are working. We can get to those who are on benefits. Officers need to speak to those who deal with poverty and groups who work on the ground, look at individual communities and put things in place which will deal with things faster, not just in the long term. |
Could the Council do more to target financial resources to tackle the causes of child poverty. |
We can always do more but resources dictate what can be provided. We do provide discounts for single person households etc – over £30m annually. Affordability of Council Tax is a key aspect. However, there is a need to measure this against the delivery of essential services. |
We can only raise Council tax so much and it is about priorities. What are your thoughts about what more we could do. |
A key to child poverty is the strength of the economy. Much of the Powys economy is made up with self employed people and we need to support these businesses and infrastructure is key to that. Accessibility to work in an affordable way is essential as well through public transport and Powys has to work with other agencies and partners. It is essential to raise people out of poverty, but the presentation also made clear that people move in and out of poverty. |
The CIP is long term planning. Powys worked successfully during the covid crisis. Covid has emphasised the issues such as the numbers claiming universal credit and the impact of a fall in universal credit. We can focus on emergency issues. Why do we do not have a Cabinet Member for this and a working group of officers looking at this working with voluntary sector. |
Early Years is a focus with families. And an opportunity to offer support and then the transition to education where some of the support can be stepped back. Health have a large part to play in this and also public health. This is around the Council working with others and providing an universal wrap around process, and opening doors in all organisations to support families.
The determinants of poverty do not solely fall into the Council remit. In relation to a portfolio holder for Poverty, it is not appropriate as it is such a cross cutting issue and affects all portfolios. The CIP is the long term vision for the Council. Should there be a seminar for Members looking at what Council is currently doing in relation to poverty such as the money advice service and other forms of assistance. Members can then identify where the Council needs to do more. The review of CIP will not happen until July 2022 so a seminar could start things quicker. More could be done through the Public Service Board as well. |
Could the information from the presentation be used as part of the wellbeing plan and population assessment. |
The Council is currently collating the updated information to inform the preparation of the wellbeing plan and population assessment. The information from today will be included in the assessment. The Council will engage extensively with stakeholders and the public, and how the Council engages with children needs to be built into the consultation process. The findings of the assessment will inform the next CIP. In the interim there could be an opportunity to look at some quick wins, and what could be amended now. |
The Poverty Champion spoke about housing costs and quality in the private rented sector. The Council also has issues and could do more to retro fit Council properties to reduce costs. What work is housing doing to tackle this. |
The Council is well on the way to build 250 new houses and have an ambition to build more. The Council is also working with other housing partners as well.
The new properties which the Council are high specification using technology to reduce utility and heating costs. The Council is also looking to retro fit existing properties to reduce costs as well as working to bring more empty private sector properties back into use. The Housing Service is embedding poverty across the service to see what can be done. |
How is this work going to be scrutinised on an ongoing basis.
Can we look at bringing the information from food banks as well into the assessment. |
This report will feed into the wellbeing and population assessment, the results of which Members will be consulted on this autumn.
There is also an opportunity for a Seminar with Members as well as bringing the presentation to the attention of Members. |
· Comments:
· Access to affordable childcare was raised in the responses to the survey
· Pleased the presentation highlighted Lanarkshire and the work being done there by the Council shows what can be done in Powys. Poverty in Powys is huge but tends to be working families, who cannot claim council tax rebates, access free school meals, free school uniforms.
· Children not eligible for free school meals and parental income means they cannot afford school meals. Furlough will also cause issues as there will be instances when furlough ends that there will not be a job to return to.
· Foodbank statistics only shows a part of the picture.
· This is also not just about food - what about Christmas presents, period poverty, digital poverty - children accessing school work.
· Need for a closer alignment between the Corporate Improvement Plan and the work of the Poverty Champion and a more targetted resources to deal with the causes of poverty.
· Many families with children are living around the poverty line in Powys. As a Council we are proactive and are one of the few Councils with money advice officers who cross reference with schools. The Council also tries to reach those families that are struggling. The Corporate Improvement Plan is driven by data. The Council presented Welsh Government with a report about the financial issues facing the Council, but may not have included enough on child poverty in that report that rural areas face. It is accessibility to key services which are important as well. Unsure of the threshold to be able to access free school meals in terms of parental income.
· There is a strong awareness of the issues in Powys. Consulting with communities is important. This is not only thinking about parents but also what poverty feels like for children and there are methods such as poverty proofing. This specifically looks at schools and looking at systems to reduce stigma and poverty by directly speaking to children about where those problems come from, for example using focus groups, and speak to affected communities and then develop ways of delivering services that reduce the pain of poverty. This might not lead to more money in people's pockets, but could help people feel less stigmatised and therefore make them more likely to access entitlements.
· Wales has the tightest means testing for eligibility for free school meals in the UK.
· Powys has not focussed on this before as unemployment is low. However, GVA (Gross Value Added) in Powys is lowest in UK. This is a hidden problem in Powys and stigma is an issue here. It can be seen from figures from food banks that we are in crisis in relation to poverty as a whole, not just child poverty, in Powys. The question is how can we keep the Cabinet tackling this issue.
· This is a cross cutting but as its everyone's issue, no-one is focussing on it on a day to day basis. The Leader was asked to reflect on this make this one person's responsibility.
· Working with children and young people – much work still needs to happen. Their voices are important. Youth Service have been working during pandemic, but many youth clubs are no longer there which young people can access. These were places young people could attend where they could not go to more expensive venues, and these clubs assist other services as well. In dealing with poverty we look at people in our system not those who are hidden, and it is the hidden people that the Council does not access. However, this is not just child poverty but poverty as a whole.
· There is a need for better signposting about what help is available, and a better understanding of what poverty is.
· There is a need to look at the criteria for free school meals.
· The seminar needs a much wider audience such as with other agencies i.e. a conference. Members and Cabinet need to look at how we get the funding to do something about this. Could there be assistance from Welsh Government?
· Does the Council need to reprioritise its resources to tackle poverty and this will mean that we will need to work with other agencies.
· Level of funding available - one of the issues for Powys is that the funding allocation for poverty focusses on FSM as a proxy for child poverty, which is not a great measure for families who are in work (no FSM if income over £7400 a year in Wales) which is a disproportionate number in Powys. Welsh Government is considering the eligibility criteria for FSM and whether these should be expanded.
· As well as spending money such as building houses and providing free transport, there are cost neutral actions which can be undertaken in the way that services are delivered, so that services are made more accessible to people in poverty which do not cost the Council and therefore should not be a barrier to the Council taking action.
· Issues being addressed in housing will only address a few people in poverty.
· An example of a Council action could be that it ensures that every school is adhering to statutory Welsh Government guidance about school uniform affordability.
· Adhering to the poverty proofing principle could affect the way schools for example undertake fundraising exercises so that it removes any stigma for those who cannot afford to contribute e.g. anonymous contributions online. These are small changes which can impact on people.
· Links to third sector providers and available support– there is a good example in Swansea with local area co-ordinators with staff in communities acting as a one stop shop for support and can direct people to specialist support services.
· The Council has a lot of assets e.g. Schools, which families will already use, and it needs to think how it can maximise these existing assets and links with families rather than setting up new things. This is about using assets effectively and also about preventative work for other services e.g. Social care, health.
· This will be an ongoing piece of work. Household issues is a long term issue, although there are things which the Council can do in the short term. The Council has taken action and will continue to do so but this is also not solely a Powys issue but an UK economy issue.
Outcomes:
· Ask the Council to convene a tackling poverty summit in conjunction with external partners and others.
· Ask the Council to produce a co-ordinated child poverty strategy.
· Ask that the future CIP has measures specifically on tackling child poverty.
· Ask the Leader to consider tasking a Cabinet Member to have responsibility for child poverty / poverty
· The Council to lobby Welsh Government about reviewing the eligibility criteria for FSM.
· The Council needs to have a conversation about access poverty
· How can the Council use community buildings and schools to provide more services.
· The Council to seek assurances that schools adhering to the statutory Welsh Government regulations about school uniform.
· That the Committee receives a progress update report in 6 months.
Supporting documents: