Help for thousands of East Devon children living in poverty pledged by council

Policies to help tackle the poverty that thousands of children in East Devon find themselves in will be aspired to in the council's Corporate Plan.

At present, 22 per cent of the population in East Devon is in relative poverty, with half of those in poverty are single parents and nearly a third are children.

In East Devon, Public Health Devon official statistics show 8.7 per cent of people in serious income deprivation, 9.6 per cent of households are in fuel poverty, 9.2 per cent of pensioners are in poverty, and 16 per cent of households have no car or van.

In total, 10.3 per cent of East Devon children are in low-income families and after the cost of housing is taken into account, 22 per cent of East Devon children are growing up in poverty – a total of 6,344 children.

Following agreement at Wednesday's full council meeting, policies to ensure no one in East Devon is destitute without immediate help and that nobody should be in involuntary poverty for more than two year's duration will be aspired to in the council's Corporate Plan, and all Corporate Plans, strategies and Service Plans will also be "poverty proofed" with an impact assessment made.

The council voted in favour of a motion put forward by Conservative councillor Mike Allen. It was agreed with support of the East Devon Alliance, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party, with the ruling Independent Group abstaining on the grounds that an evidence based report was set to the Overview Committee on November 14 with recommendations for meaningful actions that the council can take to tackle poverty.

The motion put forward a way to help people in East Devon find a way out of poverty, so that all council plans and policies would be checked to examine, and change when necessary, any negative impact they might have on poverty, together with the aspiration that no one in East Devon is destitute, without immediate help and nobody is in involuntary poverty for more than two years.

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, councillor Allen said: "I believe that all of us would, if we had the ability, bring an end to poverty in our country. Since I became a councillor, I have found out how fragmented out welfare system is and my have been really opened to the neglect and blame our society can bring to the poor and how demoralising and desperate poverty is.

"Our Economic policies talk about creating better jobs but lack a focus on relieving poverty through skills education. Our housing policies cannot help in relieving hunger or accounting for marital breakdown and sudden loss of employment.

"What has become clear is that we do not screen our policies nor development partnerships to relieve poverty in the way I sense most councillors would like.

"The one piece missing from our jigsaw is that our council plans need screening for their effect on the poor. It seems an obvious step and we need to do this before the plans and budgets are set for next year. We need to start a new chapter of hope and realistic solutions for the one in five people in our area who need help."

He added: "It is unacceptable in a first world country that people cannot afford the day to day basics of everyday living because they are too old or have fallen on hard times through no fault of their own. Although there are some instances of benefit system abuse, the vast majority of people are simply in need of help."

Supporting him, councillor Paul Millar said: "Poverty impact assessments should be included in all our reports. Since we declared climate emergency, every report considers the environment impact, but because poverty is not a protected characteristic, the issue of poverty can be forgotten, and we are living in a poverty emergency.

"The shame and stigma of poverty means that people don't seek help until they are in crisis but by having impact assessments, it is embedded into the mind-set in every decision we take."

But councillor Ian Thomas, portfolio holder for finance, said that he had no argument with the principle of the motion, but was concerned about the open-ended nature of it and how the financial costs of it could affect the council.

Councillor Megan Armstrong, portfolio holder for Sustainable Homes and Communities, said that everyone accepts that poverty needs to be taken seriously and it is high on the agenda for the cabinet.

But she said that an evidence based report was coming to the Overview Committee on November 14 with recommendations for meaningful actions that the council can take, and said: "We should wait for the evidence based report rather than make policy up on the hoof.

"This will have cost implications to the council so we need to understand the finances. We cannot propose unviable or unattainable goals that will offer those in need false hope. We need a report to back up the proposals to ensure it is workable and deliverable."

She proposed an amendment to the motion that would see a working group set up to study the issues in the report to Overview and for them to propose a strategy to address the issues and how they can be recognised in the council plan.

But councillor Paul Arnott, leader of the East Devon Alliance, said it was not about money and coins but aspirations. He said: "Do we wish to agree that no-one should be destitute and not in poverty and plans should have a poverty assessment? Where is the issue with that?"

Councillor Cathy Gardner, whose motion last December kick-started the process of getting the report to Overview, added: "Even if one person is helped, it is one person we have helped. I cannot think of a reason not to support this as we need to help any way we can."

Councillor Tom Wright said that he was concerned that the amendment to the motion was just 'kicking into the long grass', but councillor Ben Ingham, leader of the council, said that waiting three weeks for the report means that the council can tie it in with a coherent strategy to serve the communities. He said: "This is such a serious problem that we cannot afford to get it wrong."

Councillors voted by 29 votes to 24 to reject the amendment to the motion proposed by councillor Armstrong.

They then voted in favour of councillor Allen's original motion, with the Independent Group abstaining.

The motion only appeared on the agenda at the last minute after it was originally ruled ineligible by the council's chief executive.

But councillor Stuart Hughes, chairman of the council, overruled that decision and allowed the motion to be heard.

Councillor Allen said: "I didn't expect to have to fight the Chief Executive to get this on the agenda, but no fiddling with agendas will stop us."

An East Devon District Council spokesman said: "The motions were initially dealt with in accordance with our standing orders but the Chairman has decided to exercise his residual discretion to include them on the agenda."