Scots council promises £1 million in cost of living crisis support
| Author | Kirsty Paterson |
| Published date | 23 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
According to the Daily Record, the reports "Tackling Poverty in Falkirk" was brought to the council's executive by chief executive, Kenneth Lawrie, when it met on Tuesday.
He said: "We know that COVID-19 has left a legacy of increased poverty and inequality in our communities and we also know that the cost of living crisis is greatly exacerbating these problems, so there is a clear need to act on this now.
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"We also know that this is not going to be dealt with quickly or easily so the proposals set out a positive, realistic and considered starting point for this work and there will need to be a continued focus over the life of this council."
The councillors also agreed to an additional £250,000 in funding to the Household Support Fund, which has already made an impact since it started in January.
The money will top up the Government's COVID Economic Recovery Fund, some of which has already been used to help low-income households get essentials like food, fuel and transport.
The council has also agreed to spend £19,000 a year for the next two years to hire four more members of staff who will help people get the benefits and support they are entitled to.
Every year an estimated £38 million of benefits goes unclaimed in the council area, while nationally six out of ten eligible pensioners claim pension credit. They will continue to give £3.50 a day to families who normally get free school meals to help during the summer holidays at a cost of £344,000
Councillors also agreed to provide low income families with free swimming. This will be done with the existing Go-card scheme to include anyone in receipt of an income related benefit to get free access to swimming.
The funding for the proposals will come from COVID funds from the Scottish Government and partly from a £1.2 million insurance rebate for schools.
Council leader Cecil Meiklejohn said: "We hope the range of measures outlined in the report can alleviate to some extent the pressures faced by many while promoting the uptake of advice and support to maximise benefits and support to those most in need."
Councillors also agreed to look at creating a card that could be used by people on low incomes to help get simple, subtle access to other council...
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