Supporting vulnerable Elmbridge residents with cost-of-living pressures

22 November update: letter in reply from Emma Reynolds MP, Minister for Pensions to Cllr Mike Rollings, Leader of Elmbridge Borough Council.

At the Elmbridge Borough Council meeting on Wednesday 2 October, the Council carried a motion that all Group Leaders would sign a joint letter to the Chancellor calling for the new Winter Fuel Payment policy to be suspended and reviewed; the Chief Executive will also write a similar letter to the Chancellor. The letters are below.

As part of the Council’s motion, Elmbridge will continue to promote Pension Credit to eligible residents. Pension Credit provides additional financial support for those over the state pension age with low incomes, helping with living costs and potentially covering housing expenses like ground rent or service charges. Many pensioners might be missing out on their entitlements, but advice is available from Citizens Advice, CHEER, and other organisations to help assess their eligibility.

In recent years, Elmbridge Borough Council has been actively supporting our vulnerable residents in coping with the rising cost of living, including addressing fuel poverty, which we know impacts many, including pensioners:

• in 2024, we are continuing that support with £662K available to help those most in need in our borough:
  • as part of this Elmbridge is currently running a third round of cost-of-living funding, offering a total of £100,000 to projects directly supporting residents through the cost-of-living crisis
  • from this, Elmbridge also committed an additional £150,000 to the Household Support Fund to boost payments to vulnerable households, which was paid out earlier this year
  • the Elmbridge Cost of Living Steering Group, made up of partner organisations such as Walton Charity, Rentstart, Citizens Advice, and others, oversee the support and funding for those most in need
  • there are currently proposals being considered to help address in-work poverty, improve access to physical activity, and engaging residents in commissioning processes
• in the previous two funding rounds combined, we have provided over £300,000 in funding to local charities supporting residents with the strain of the increasing cost-of-living
• a further £50,000 was delegated to Walton Charity in 2022 and was used to support a wide range of initiatives provided through organisations such as Oasis and Three Rivers Academy
• in December 2023, Elmbridge provided funding to our 3 foodbanks to the value of £2,500 which included vouchers for items in the Christmas hampers
• in addition to the £662k, £45,000 is available from our Partnership Fund working with Walsingham Care and Walton Charity - the fund focuses on our most vulnerable residents
• in the last 4 years, the Elmbridge Community Lottery has raised over £150,000 for charitable groups supporting our residents

This financial support has enabled our community partners to provide vital help in Elmbridge:

• it has allowed Citizens Advice to increase the staff it has available providing advice on the benefits available
• Oasis Childcare Centre held fresh food banks and is also now supplying fresh food and cupboard store supplies daily to struggling families locally
• Home-start Elmbridge was funded to help deliver money management courses to families - this short course is designed to help people create workable budgets, helping them see exactly what they are spending, prioritise their spending and save money
• Cheer used its funding to recruit a new member of staff as a Benefits Advisor, to help meet the increased demand from vulnerable older residents of Elmbridge for support with completing benefits applications
• Lower Green Community CIO received funding to extend their support to more people - they now provide supported referrals for a growing number of local residents facing various cost-of-living issues
• the cost-of-living funding has allowed St Peter’s in West Molesey to buy furniture which has significantly increased the available spaces in the café, offering residents the essential support and space they need. The funding has also contributed to a community support worker role:  
  “Since we received the grant funding and have been able to buy the new café tables we've served over 1,000 free breakfasts to the community - that's a lot of sausages!”

For more information on how Elmbridge is supporting residents see cost of living support.