As residents will no doubt be aware, everyone is facing difficulties when it comes to finances. Thousands of residents in our borough has been hit hard by the cost of living, and this seems to have no sign of abating. Waltham Forest Council prides itself on being the safety net needed by so many in our borough but the Council has not been immune from the financial difficulties facing households. The Council have produced a useful video talking through the Council’s finances which can be viewed here.
Tory austerity is still alive and well and we have seen the money we receive from government fall by 54%. We have had to make savings of £120 million over the past 13 years. In that time, demand has only increased and we have had to deal with a pandemic, cost of living crisis, and the deep and far-reaching impacts of austerity on our communities.
Our biggest pressures are in adult social care and support for children in our borough. We are caring for an additional 24% more adults in their homes over the past four years, and as a borough who is determined to make Waltham Forest the best place to grow up, the cost of the essential work we do to support children is increasing. We are seeing 50% more people present to us as homeless but we are not being given the funds to help them.
The impact of the government’s disastrous mini-budget on the UK economy and persistently high inflation rates mean that the cost of providing vital council services is soaring. Evidently the government does not wish to provide us with more money to mitigate their poor financial decisions.
Last week the Chancellor announced changes to the Treasury with the Autumn Statement and to make our voices heard, our Leader, Grace Williams, wrote to the Chancellor calling on him to implement changes to help us in Waltham Forest. She set out the very real challenges we face, whether that is the crisis in adult social care, the soaring demand for special educational health and care plans for children or the ongoing freeze to Local Housing Allowance (money given to us to house residents in private accommodation) has meant homelessness costs remain a pressure we cannot sustain.
In addition to this, Cllr Ahsan Khan, Deputy Leader and Cabinet lead for Housing and Regeneration wrote to the Chancellor demanding that he addresses the crisis facing councils regarding housing homeless families. We are determined to help everyone who is in need, but the cost is unsustainable and we need government help to continue this essential service. We were relieved to hear the Chancellor had acted on these calls and others and lifted the freeze on Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile. This will help residents but thee piecemeal decisions are no substitute for properly-funded local government.
The government’s failure to address local Government finance for so long means this is now an emergency.