Council leader pledges help for Haringey residents struggling to pay bills

Warm spaces will be provided in every ward in Haringey to help people struggling to heat their homes during the cost-of-living crisis, council leader Peray Ahmet has pledged.

The ‘Warm Welcome’ initiative has been set up to provide a network of inclusive spaces across the borough where residents can have a hot drink and keep warm.

It is one of a series of measures designed to help people facing rising costs, as Haringey Council looks to continue the support provided to residents during the Covid-19 pandemic by working with local charities and community groups.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Ahmet said food banks had seen a 20% increase in need and there was “a lot of worry” about who the cost-of-living crisis was going to impact.

She added: “Inflation is at a 40-year high, energy prices are through the roof. When you are talking to schools, they are talking about how it is impacting on their parents, but also how it is impacting on their workforce as well. It is a crisis.”

The council leader said that as well as working with cafes to provide Warm Welcome spaces, the authority will use its own buildings such as libraries. “The idea is there will be a Warm Welcome space in every ward in the borough,” she explained.

A “pay it forward” scheme will allow people using the spaces to leave a voucher for other residents to order food and drink. Cllr Ahmet revealed that within one hour of launching, £30-worth of pay it forward donations had been made in just one location.

The council is planning to send a booklet to every household in the borough containing information on all the support that people are able to receive. These booklets will also be available in libraries, GP surgeries, schools and places of worship. The council plans to produce a similar support booklet for businesses.

Cllr Ahmet said residents needing support can access the ‘Haringey Here to Help’ financial helpline and an online benefits calculator. They can also apply for the Haringey Support Fund and the Household Support Fund, which use grant funding from the government to provide financial support for low-income and vulnerable households.

“We have already got these measures in place,” Cllr Ahmet explained. “These sorts of things came about during the pandemic and post-pandemic, and we have continued to do them and enhanced them.”

Haringey Food Network, an informal network of community groups and food banks run by volunteers, will continue to provide emergency food to local people in need of support. The council’s free school meals programme, which supports around 650 children in addition to the government-funded initiative, will continue during the half-term holiday.

Labour’s local election manifesto included an “ambition” to provide free school meals for every primary school pupil, and Cllr Ahmet said the council was “trying to work through how we do that” given the budget pressures it faces. It is currently lobbying the government to provide more money.

Last month, a report revealed the council was forecast to spend £16million more than expected during the current financial year as a result of economic pressures and the ongoing effects of Covid-19. Cllr Ahmet said that despite the financial challenges, the council could play a leadership role in terms of bringing people and agencies together.

She added: “Yes, the budgets are challenging, but it is worth bearing in mind that there are things we do day-to-day as a local authority that are our statutory duty and which the government hasn’t and isn’t funding to the levels that it should – adult social care, for example.

“We are absolutely doing our best. There are things we do directly, there are things statutorily that we have to do – and we do that well – and then, in addition to that, we are co-ordinating some of these other initiatives.”

Barnet Council froze core council tax for the current financial year to help hard-up residents, and the borough’s new Labour administration has pledged to refund a 1% increase in the adult social care levy. Cllr Ahmet ruled out a similar move in Haringey, pointing out that the council needs more funding for social care.

The council leader called on the government to provide more funding for social care, to freeze energy prices, and to provide more money for sustainability measures to reduce energy costs for homes and businesses.

Cllr Ahmet said: “We are here to support [people], and we are here to do our best. Similar to the pandemic and the crisis that happened then, it is a case of us all pulling together as a Haringey community, as Haringey has done many times before, to work together to make sure that no-one in Haringey goes without.”

For information on the support available to them, residents can visit the council’s Haringey Here to Help webpage or call its financial support helpline on 020 8489 4431.