The council will hire two new staff members to advise people on debt, but the overall pot of cash has been slashed
Acorn members outside City Hall last month campaigning to stop the council using bailiffs(Image: Darren Shepherd)
Budget cuts affecting debt advice services are due to hit some of the poorest people in Bristol struggling to pay their bills. The government has given councils across the country less money this year in a crucial grant that helps support households with the rising cost of living.
Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, slashed the funding in March for the Household Support Fund by around £100 million, giving councils across England £742 million for the year. So Bristol City Council has £1 million less this year to spend on support like food vouchers and debt advice.
The majority of the £7.1 million that the council has this year will be spent on food vouchers for parents during the school holidays. But a smaller portion, spent on advising people with debt, has ignited a row with the deputy council leader denying “maliciously” misleading campaigners. The cuts were discussed by the strategy and resources policy committee on Monday, June 16.
Green Councillor Heather Mack, deputy leader of the council, said: “I think it’s important that we don’t start making accusations in any direction. Sometimes things can be misworded rather than anything malicious intended.
“I think it was a mistake in communication. We very specifically communicated what was planned in terms of additional roles within our team, not specifically additional or increased money for debt advice.”
Ahead of the meeting, Acorn, the community union, emailed councillors on the committee asking them to vote for the proposals, which they said included “additional funding for debt advice”. This followed the union campaigning to stop the council from using bailiffs to chase people who don’t pay their council tax, including with a knight in shining armour outside City Hall last month.
The email added that Acorn had “negotiated with deputy council leader Heather Mack”, and the proposals were “in response to our demands”. However, while the council will spend an extra £70,000 on hiring two staff members to advise people with debt and benefits, the amount paid to external debt charities will be slashed from £808,000 last year to £582,266 this year.
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This means that overall there will be less money spent on debt advice this year, despite the two new roles. Labour claimed that the Greens might have misled campaigners from Acorn.
Labour Cllr Tom Renhard said: “Props to the work Acorn is doing around bailiffs at the moment. They’ve been doing a lot to support individuals facing behaviours that they shouldn’t be facing. We really need to crack on with removing the use of bailiffs entirely, if we can. But there’s not additional funding for debt advice. Either they’ve misunderstood, or they’ve been misled.”
Labour suggested that the council could have chosen to fund debt advice services by the same amount this year, by taking money from elsewhere in the budget. They also said the government increased the money given to the council — although much of this has been swallowed up by rising demand and costs for expensive social care for elderly and disabled people.
Cllr Renhard added: “Politics is about choices. The funding could have been topped up, so that we’re not having to cut what is really essential funding. I hope what we’ll look to do is try and find a way to find additional money, so that we can make sure it’s getting to those who need it.”
After the meeting, Acorn welcomed the two new staff roles hired by the council to advise people on managing debt and claiming benefits. But the union said this was “not enough” to protect people from “bullying bailiffs”, and called on councillors to find extra cash to pay for debt advice.
Elsie Bradley Middle, branch chair of Acorn Bristol, said: “After eight months of taking direct action to boot bailiffs from our city, we welcome the council’s recent commitments. Voting to create more staff roles within debt advice will help ensure that Bristolians who are most at risk of bailiff use have more support in managing their debts.
“It’s an important step in the right direction by the council and a direct result of our campaign. This on its own, however, is not enough to protect Bristolians from the harassment, bullying and intimidation bailiffs inflict on the most vulnerable in our city.
“ACORN has commitments from Labour and Green councillors to discuss expanding debt advice roles further, finding funding to increase their funding of debt advice by organisations they fund, and reducing the council’s use of bailiffs. We will be holding the council to these commitments in negotiating meetings to come.
“Bailiff use by the council does not align with the kind, compassionate city we know Bristol to be. Thousands of households at risk of thuggish debt collection is an urgent issue which requires urgent and sustained action from Bristol City Council.”