Gateshead Council bosses have called for longer-term solutions to help the most vulnerable following a £1.8m extension from central government.
Gateshead Council’s cabinet gathered yesterday to discuss the receipt of the newly extended Household Support Fund (HSF). The local authority has been allocated £1,836,629 to help those at risk of the cold, hunger, and rising living costs.
While the cabinet was thankful for the extension, councillors stated an overhaul is needed for longer-term funding, as opposed to continued extensions of the HSF.
According to council documents: “There is no guarantee that the Government will extend HSF post-March 2025 and many local authorities are reviewing their approach to Local Welfare Assistance.”
Deputy leader of Gateshead Council and the authority’s poverty lead, Cllr Catherine Donovan said, “Everybody should have enough money to feed and clothe themselves and I think that has to be on the agenda for the government because every six-month or a year my team and I are sitting waiting to see what is going to happen next.
Cllr Donovan continued: “This cannot go on. The health of the people of Gateshead and beyond is a massive concern. If you look at it from an economic point of view it will cost a lot in the future from, apart from the moral point of view.”
The discussion sparked the leader of the council, Cllr Martin Gannon, to criticise the cost of means-tested benefits in favour of universality.
Council leader Martin Gannon added: “Clearly there is a significant problem nationally, but particularly in areas of deprivation like Gateshead so we need to campaign really hard for a continuation of something whether its HSF or called something else, but we need additional support into Gateshead.
“Gateshead council has been so hollowed out through austerity that unfortunately we cannot pick up this level of cost, so we need support from central government.”
The discussion also prompted the leader to discuss his views on universal, as opposed to means-tested benefits.
Cllr Gannon said: “Universality strengthens communities. If you think about things like child benefit, I know it is now targeted, but this was paid to every mother regardless of income. Millionaires got it and the poorest in the land got it but it was paid for with a progressive tax system.
“Everybody had a stake in it.”
The leader went on to describe the costs associated with means-testing as “ridiculous”.
