Tackling the cost-of-living crisis is set to become a top priority for Colchester Borough Council’s new administration, when cabinet members meet tomorrow (June 8) to consider ways to support residents struggling to meet household costs.
Cabinet will discuss how to develop proposals for a cost-of-living action plan and how the council will work alongside new and existing partners to help ease the pressure on residents facing financial challenges with increasing food and energy bills and rising inflation.
The plan being developed will bring together a suite of measures that focus on providing advice and support. It will see the council reinforce its own teams to gear-up a co-ordinated response to the crisis and will ensure Government funding is combined with local support to deliver help to those most in need.
Additional financial advice and support will be provided alongside extending work already underway and new initiatives – such as offering direct financial support and employment advice through the council’s Financial and Employment Support Teams and partners like Community360 and Citizens’ Advice. The teams already work together to ensure residents can access all the support they are entitled to.
An immediate priority will be ensuring help is available to access food and household essentials and that our local foodbanks are able to meet increasing demand.
Cllr David King, Leader of the Council, said: “We know that many of our residents are struggling to make ends meet. Increasing food and energy bills and rising inflation will lead to a steep fall in living standards, rising inequality, and the very real risk of recession.
“We stand on the side of our residents. We are here to support the most financially vulnerable in our communities. They need to be reassured that this new administration has at its heart their wellbeing. We are beginning to muster the resources at our disposal, with the help of our partners, to target support where it is needed most.
“We will ask Government to help us more, but regardless, we will do all we can to develop and deliver a cost-of-living action plan that helps those most in need – and for however long it takes.”
Page last reviewed: 7 June 2022