Food not fireworks - Newcastle City Council can spend your council tax better than it does, says Liberal Democrats Councillor

Tonight's meeting of Newcastle City Council heard from Cllr Christine Morrissey, who said "I'd like to record my thanks as shadow cabinet member for children, education and skills to all staff working within childrens' services and education for the extremely hard work they have done throughout an exceptional year.

I wish to talk to Amendment 3 and show how the LibDems would be better positioned to tackle inequalities and point out to Cllrs Ainsly and Bell if our amendments weren't achievable the S151 Officer wouldn't have allowed them. This can be achieved not by using reserves but by a relocation on the underspend from the Great North City Fund, otherwise known as the fireworks fund - which has ballooned under the current Administration - can improve the status of Newcastle as a city where all residents really do matter and no child or family is left behind.

Far from making us into a provincial backwater as has been said by Cllr Forbes using this - as yet unspent and unallocated - budget to improve the lives of some of the most deprived children and families in Newcastle will future proof the city at a time where great change is happening.. Supporting our young people to successfully complete their education and training, be ready to take on opportunities for business and enterprise and contribute to the Newcastle economy will provide lasting benefits to both themselves and the residents of this great north city.

During the past year 'food poverty' has unfortunately become a term we have become very familiar with. The definition of food poverty is...,

'The inability to afford, or to have access to food to make up a healthy diet, where a higher percentage of income is spent on food and where there is less choice from a restricted range of foods due to lack of income.

Nevertheless, the pandemic alone can't be blamed for the huge rise in households who now fall into food poverty. Many families were struggling to manage before the Covid crisis and were already relying on food banks: furthermore the phrase food poverty doesn't begin to cover the extent to which some families are affected. If they can't afford food they can't buy clothes, pay bills and are far from having access to the electronic equipment children and young people have been relying on to help with online learning during lockdown

Research over many years has produced data suggesting that with good nutrition children and young people are better able to learn, have fewer absences from school, improved concentration, improved behaviour and better educational outcomes. At a time when our children and young people have been out of school for almost a year, the repercussions of these months of lost learning are devastating and will be felt for a lifetime, especially by those from low-income backgrounds - unless we are prepared to do something we are well able to do, if the will was there to admit there is an alternative budget and if the will was there we could spend money on our children and young people now to ensure they are in the best possible position to make educational progress and not keep funds hidden away to indulge egos on vanity projects!

Thinking about how this administration spends money leads me to my next point which is the need for the voluntary sector to be given a greater role in how services are designed and delivered to disadvantaged families. This is not an area where the current administration should have a monopoly. Connected Voice has a long established role in engaging and empowering communities in Newcastle - I believe over 90 years experience of building social capital. Through its direct links to service users and history of acting as an advocate for them, this overarching organisation can help both design and deliver appropriate services to our hard to reach families. Another familiar phrase borrowed from the voluntary sector alludes to them giving - better bang for your buck! Which I'm sure no one will argue against!

The voluntary sector organisations in Newcastle are particularly well placed to respond to the post pandemic challenges we will all face, particularly those families experiencing social and income inequalities. There is the potential to build bridges, unite people and reach out to those still struggling and the voluntary sector can often be best placed to provide targeted, local support. With their long standing reputation this organisation is well placed to support the reduction of food poverty and signpost children, young people and families to locality based venues which will also support educational catch up.

My final point links with the appalling increase in council tax which must be one of the most punitive and regressive taxes ever. Low income families on benefits can lose up to £3.70 a week from income support, jobseekers allowance or pension credits and 5% of the standard allowance can be deducted from universal credit to pay Council Tax. This Administration has made the choice to implement the full rise immediately.

Even after accounting for council tax support which some families can access, the poorest tenth of the population pay 8% of their income in council tax, while the next 50% pay 4-5% and the richest 40% pay 2-3%. The Labour administration's proposed increase will plunge more families into a situation where food poverty becomes a reality and parents and in particular mothers, will be facing situations where they feed their children but not themselves.

Newcastle is a City of Sanctuary - holding its arms open to people fleeing violence and providing a safe place to be. Let's be radical and use the unspent monies within the Great North Cities Ffund, NOT RESERVES to make Newcastle a place where residents are free from not only violence but food poverty, educational disadvantage and income insecurity. COME ON, BE BOLD MR FORBES - FORGET THE FIREWORKS AND FEED YOUR FAMILIES!