The Cost of Living Co-ordinator (Employability Bridgend) presented a report, the purpose of which, was to provide the Town and Community Council Forum with an update on the cost-of-living support activity, more specifically Warm Hubs, being provided to communities across Bridgend County Borough.

By way of some background information, she advised that the impact of the rising cost of living affects everyone but there are groups who are likely to be hardest hit. These people spend a greater proportion of their total income on food, housing and energy costs and therefore have less flexibility to meet increased costs. Those who were able to balance their budgets instead start struggling or find themselves in crisis.

Issues with older housing stock means many homes are relatively less energy efficient. In rural areas homes are more likely to be reliant on solid fuel, oil, or LPG for their heating. These are all factors that increase energy costs.

The Cost of Living Co-ordinator confirmed, that        in April 2022 the domestic energy price cap was increased to £1,971 per year leading the Welsh Government to estimate that up to 45% of households could be in fuel poverty and up to 8% of households could be in severe fuel poverty. As 1 in 5 homes in Wales posed an unacceptable risk to health prior to the cost-of-living crisis the increase in households affected by fuel poverty is likely to increase excess winter deaths overall.

In September 2022, in response to the escalating cost of living crisis, specifically the increasing cost of energy, Welsh Government announced £1m of funding would be made available to support communities to develop Warm Hubs or expand and enhance Warm Hub provision.

Then in October 2022 it was announced that the funding would be distributed via local authorities who would work with local partners in the development and delivery of Warm Hubs. Bridgend County Borough Council was allocated £44,590 to support Warm Hubs through a grant scheme to be spent by 31 March 2023.

She explained that Warm Hubs are intended as places in local communities where people can find a safe and warm environment during the day to help reduce the cost of heating their own homes and to help people facing extreme fuel poverty this winter. Depending on their location and facilities, Warm Hubs offer a range of support including basic refreshments and snacks as a minimum, extending to a more substantive meal where possible, enrichment activities such as arts and crafts, exercise and cultural activity and the provision of advice and support services such as health and wellbeing, financial matters, and digital accessibility for those who attend.

The aim of the Warm Hubs fund is to provide safe, accessible, friendly, free to use spaces to provide support with the rising cost of living whilst helping communities to be well and stay as such.

To facilitate the allocation of grant funding a scoping exercise was undertaken across the County Borough. To reflect the diversity of local communities across the County Borough and help to address the unique challenges in different areas, a series of local meetings were held. 11 meetings were organised, and efforts were made to invite representatives from community groups, town and community councils, community venues, Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) Councillors and Third Sector organisation including Halo and Awen.

The purpose of the scoping meetings was to discuss community solutions to the   rising cost of domestic energy, identifying and capturing information on the support and activities already available to avoid future duplication and create a position to build from. Following the meetings, circulation lists for each area were created to assist with future communication both to and between local representatives. The mailing groups had been an effective way of gathering further information and sharing local knowledge and updates on Warm Hubs.

The Cost of Living Co-ordinator advised that funding was drawn down from the WLGA and agreement was subsequently made with Bridgend Association of Voluntary Organisations (BAVO) in January 2023 to provide the administration of the funds. BAVO’s role extends to the advertising of the Warm Hubs funding scheme and the collation of applications, with BCBC responsible for the decision making through a Grant Panel, and monitoring and reporting to WLGA.

The BCBC Grant Panel is comprised of the Employability and Enterprise Manager, Group Manager – Sports and Physical Activity Prevention and Wellbeing and the Cost of Living Co-ordinator. The Grant Panel has been able to agree applications quickly, meeting twice weekly since the grant fund was opened. Applications to the fund have now exceeded the amount of funding available from Welsh Government and over 30 recipients have received Warm Hubs funding. Additional funds are being made available through BCBC’s Discretionary Cost of Living Funds.

Officers from Employability then responded to questions from Members and further details regarding this can be found here

RESOLVED:                            That the Town and Community Council Forum noted the report.