Agenda item

Emma Robinson was welcomed to the meeting and provided a detailed update with regard to the refreshed Poverty Needs Assessment for 2020/21, outlining both the local and national pictures in terms of healthy life expectancy, employment, child poverty, food poverty and digital poverty.

It was highlighted that Barnsley is now starting to see the emerging impact of Covid-19.  Levels of poverty have risen in both Summer and Winter, with more people dropping below the poverty line.  This trend is likely to continue as measures such as the furlough scheme and enhanced Universal Credit are removed.  In Barnsley the Healthy Life Expectancy picture is worsening, with people in deprived areas spending more of their lives in poor health. 

More than two in five families nationally have fallen into poverty in 2020, meaning hundreds of thousands were struggling to pay bills and cover costs for their child in lockdown, with an associated impact on children's wellbeing.  More than 70 per cent of children facing hardship have at least one parent who works.

Disadvantaged children are more likely to develop mental health problems, have poor educational attainment, increased worries, frustrations, aspirations etc.   33% of Barnsley children live in poverty, an increase from around 28%.  This is higher in some areas such as the Dearne, Worsborough and St Helens, with lower rates in Penistone.  

Benefit claimant rates and youth unemployment is also increasing.   Male life expectancy is static but is lower than national and regional rates.   Healthy life expectancy shows a decrease for both men and women, in line with national trends.  The Healthy Life Expectancy for males in Barnsley is 57.5 years, 5.7 years lower than the England average and for females it is 61.5 years, 2 years lower than the England average. 

The number of homes in fuel poverty in Barnsley is increasing and is higher than the regional and national average.  Fuel poverty contributes to Excess Winter Deaths (EWDs) as the risk of death and ill health is associated with living in a cold home when the outdoor temperature drops to below 6°C.  The highest number of EWDs are in Penistone and Darton which may be due to the older population and the number of care homes in the area.  The North Area Council has been doing work around winter warmer packs/sloppy slippers. Berneslai Homes is working with its tenants to reduce poverty and is picking up information around damp and condensation as this is linked to health. 

A discussion took place around the need for the Board to carefully examine the data, look at the 'must-do's' and challenges and identify how to tackle them with partners.  The timescale for this work has not yet been determined as the intelligence team has been working on Covid projects.  Finance data will also need to be incorporated into it.  The issue of Digital poverty needs more insight.   

RESOLVED

(i)        that Emma be thanked for her attendance and contribution;

(ii)       that a household level ‘Poverty Index’ for the Borough be developed using similar methodology to the vulnerability model, focusing on financial hardship and poverty ‘flags’, to inform targeting of preventative work.

(iii)      Better capturing of data at an area level in our ‘business as usual’ work, ensuring the right questions are asked at the start of contact with residents to collect data on the situation of people in the Borough.

(iv)      that Wider boards should receive the findings and consider key actions/outcome proposals for reducing poverty in the Borough as findings from the needs assessment suggest that tackling poverty and inequalities will need a co-ordinated partnership response with place-based initiatives to support and promote employment, educational achievement, better health and improved social mobility.

(v)       that a mapping exercise be undertaken in terms of our resources to tackle poverty to help us identify the opportunities and gaps. This would also act as a “sense check” of current funding streams against the intelligence in the needs assessment to ensure we are spending the money in the right areas.

(vi)      to incorporate the findings/intelligence from this needs assessment into the development of the Council plan and Barnsley 2030 vision, and

(vii)     A Poverty Needs Assessment All Member Information Brief (AMIB) be arranged for Elected Members.