Agenda item

The important message the Leader want to send in relation to the above report was to encourage residents who were struggling, to contact the Council who could provide help and support for people to pay their bills and try to prevent them from getting into any financial difficulty.

As Chair of OneNewport the Leader was confident of the Council’s strong partnerships across the city, and in turn, the commitment and passion of all partners to do all that they could at the cost-of-living summit held in November.

The Council’s officers continued to facilitate community-based events across the city with a range of partners to provide advice and guidance on the support available from local and national sources, as well as supporting the Welsh Government initiatives including warm spaces and Claim What’s Yours – all had a responsibility to sign post residents to this initiative.

Newport launched its warm spaces offer in December and the council were providing seven warm spaces its in own buildings, under the stewardship of Councillor Harvey, Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing. We were working with voluntary and community organisations who were currently facilitating another nine, with a further three launching this month. The council was working with GAVO to provide funding to support the running of warm spaces and develop new offers with a particular focus on areas which were not currently well served. Full information could be found on the council’s website.

Colleagues from across the council continued to support people through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and the Welsh Super Sponsor Team. We were at a period of considerable risk for both schemes as the initial hosting arrangements came to an end and the council awaited confirmation on whether initial accommodation hotels, procured through the super sponsor scheme, would be extended from March 2023. In December, UK government announced changes to the funding regime. The £10.5k support payments would not be extended and payments for new arrivals would be reduced to £5.9K. Payments to hosts would increase from £350 per month to £500 per month after a year of hosting. Local Authorities in England would also be given access to a £500 million fund to purchase accommodation for people from Ukraine, but this was not extended to devolved nations. 

Comments of Cabinet Members:

·        Councillor Harvey thanked officers for putting the warm spaces in place so promptly.  

·        Councillor Davies added that the document focussed on schools provision of breakfast clubs, food banks and uniform banks.  The Deputy Leader also highlighted the thanks for teachers who put together food hampers for families and distributed to those families identified as most in need, especially during Christmas, providing Christmas meals.  Councillor Davies was grateful that staff took the time to do this.

·        Councillor Hughes regularly visited community church in Caerleon who in November, formed a project called Isca Haven. The project supported people in the community in need. This would not have happened without strong the partnerships within the community, church, food banks and the Council.  The combination helped the group and it was important so stress that it was a team effort which was making a difference.  The Cabinet Member thanked everyone that became involved in the project. 

The leader highlighted the important element of this and that it was also important to acknowledge the role of the elected members within their wards.

·        Councillor Marshall mentioned that it was fantastic to see members of the community, including business, staff and residents help out over the Christmas period and meeting and greeting people.  The Cabinet Member also stressed that residents should not be embarrassed to contact the Council if they needed help. Community connectors were also in place to give advice and warm spaces were provided, these brought lonely people together to make friendships within the community.  School staff were also a massive help in the community as were staff in local hubs.

·        Councillor Clarke added that it was tough for Newport and thanked the Leader for her support. The Cabinet Member also echoed Councillor Marshall’s comments that if residents were worried and needed help, the Council was there to support and look after them.

·        Councillor Batrouni referred to the effect the cost-of-living crisis had and echoed the comments of colleagues regarding community partnerships.  The long-term solutions were discussed in the previous agenda items and these previous items would fend off moments like this in our economy and make us more resilient.

The leader thanked all colleagues to take time to consider and read the report.  The Leader also reflected on the contribution that officers made and their commitment across the whole of the authority.  They gave their own time to support Newport residents and had fantastic examples where they went above and beyond to support residents.  We were fortunate that officers were completely committed to public service to deliver for the people of Newport.

Decision:

Cabinet considered the contents of the report on the Council’s activity to respond to the external factors on Newport’s communities, businesses, and council services.