Falkirk Council: Warm spaces to help vulnerable over winter

With an economic situation that has been changing swiftly and relentlessly, it is impossible to keep the figures up to date. At the last count, the district had around 13,000 families with incomes below the poverty threshold – but they are in no doubt it will be much higher now.

There are already talks between churches, voluntary organisations and the council about how to best to provide warm spaces that will be welcoming and safe.

Although the council has said it is reluctant to use the term warm spaces, fearing it may stigmatise people.

For those who are worried about the impact of the rising costs of food, fuel and energy, the council has a vital message: make sure you are getting all the help you are entitled to.

The leader of Falkirk Council, Cecil Meiklejohn, says it is crucial that people don’t feel embarrassed about this. That’s because every year an estimated £38 million of benefits goes unclaimed in the Falkirk area. Nationally, only six out of pensioners claim the pension credits they could.

“We want to encourage people not to feel awkward or embarrassed about asking for help and to take away the stigma of being ‘in poverty’,” she said.

Many of the government grants that are being given out to help those suffering most are targeted at people on benefits, so claiming is important to be able to access further help.

To get the message across the council has been raising awareness through a campaign to highlight checking benefit entitlements.

Very few people – particularly those in single income households – will be immune to the rising cost of energy.

“We had an estimate of between 24 and 30,000 households experiencing fuel poverty but we suspect that that could be a very low estimate – we think it could be considerably greater than that,” said Cllr Meiklejohn.

It is now estimated that a household will need an income of more than £48,000 not to be in fuel poverty, as the average spend on energy hits £300 a month.

“It’s very sobering and it’s quite frightening,” she said.

Falkirk Council’s website has an online benefits calculator that will help people see for themselves what they could be claiming. There is also the Support for People helpline and other services such as Citizens Advice and Macmillan Money Matters.

The aftershocks of Covid, along with spiralling cost of fuel and food along with the removal of the £20 uplift in Universal Credit meant that many families were already finding things hard, even before the energy price hikes started to kick in.

Since April 2021, the council has paid out over £185,000 to help with fuel costs, targeting low income households, including those in the areas that do not have gas that are already struggling to pay energy bills.

The council will also re-open its Household Support Fund in time for winter, something that will support over 3000 households in poverty this winter.

“The challenge is that 3000 households is perhaps the tip of the iceberg in comparison to the numbers that we know are going to be struggling,” said Sally Buchanan, manager of Fairer Falkirk.

The council is also introducing free swimming for families on low incomes, starting this week for anyone with a Go Card. From October 1, the eligibility for the Go Card will be widened to include a wider group of low income households.

They will also hand out a £75 payment to all households in receipt of council tax reduction, from the Covid economic recovery funding.

Ms Buchanan believes that all of these small interventions will make a difference. The free swimming in particular will be welcomed by families looking to entertain children.

But they are all too aware that the stresses will take its toll on mental health and even physical health. As a council, they will be looking keep a close eye on any extra money that might be forthcoming, in particular from the Scottish Government.

However, Councillor Meiklejohn believes that it is up to the UK government, which oversees benefits and energy, to provide more support.

She is now watching to see the result of the leadership contest that will determine the new Prime Minister and she has drafted a letter that she hopes will be supported by her fellow group leaders.

“While we can look to do what we can to cushion and mitigate, it really needs a significant policy change and intervention. I think that intervention we’re looking at is of the same magnitude as Covid is needed to be able to support some of our hardest hit families,” she said.