The aim of the summit, held at the Guildhall in Cambridge, was to explore:
- Progress that has been made in tackling poverty in Cambridge over the period of the council’s current Anti-Poverty Strategy for 2014-2017;
- Issues that continue to affect residents in poverty and on low incomes in Cambridge, and which new issues challenges and opportunities have emerged;
- How the council should take forward its Anti-Poverty Strategy over the next three years.
Delegates heard presentations on the causes and potential solutions to poverty and inequality in Cambridge from external expert speakers, including Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director of the Equality Trust, and Mike Hawking, Partnerships Manager from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Delegates at the event also heard from David Kidston, the council’s Strategy and Partnerships Manager, who provided an update on initiatives from the council’s Anti-Poverty Strategy that have been progressed over the past three years, including:
- Paying all council staff at least the Living Wage and promoting the Living Wage to employers in the city;
- Promoting schemes that can reduce people’s utility bills, including energy and water saving measures, and a collective energy switching scheme;
- Supporting credit unions, which will enable vulnerable residents to avoid loan sharks and other high interest lenders;
- Helping people on low incomes to get online and develop the digital skills needed to search for jobs, complete online applications and access public services;
- Expanding advice services to ensure that residents know the benefits they can claim and get expert advice on money and debt management;
- Supporting initiatives to improve the health of low income residents, including providing cookery skills classes for low income families and free swimming lessons for children from low income families;
- Constructing new council-owned homes and making them available at affordable rent levels;
- Increasing the number of apprenticeships at the council and working with partners in the Greater Cambridge Partnership to increase the number of opportunities across the city.
Delegates shared their experiences of supporting low income residents and households and made suggestions for future work to tackle the causes and effects of poverty in the city.
The council has a clear vision to lead a united city, ‘One Cambridge - Fair for All’, in which economic dynamism and prosperity are combined with social justice and equality.
To help deliver this vision, the council published its first Anti-Poverty Strategy in 2015, which aims to improve the standard of living and daily lives of those residents in Cambridge who are experiencing poverty.
The council is currently reviewing the progress that has been made in tackling poverty and how it should take forwards its Anti-Poverty Strategy over the next three years in partnership with other organisations.
The summit formed part of this review process and the key issues raised by attendees at the summit will be considered as part of the review.
A report will be presented to the council’s Community Services Scrutiny Committee on 5 October 2017 setting out the key findings of the review and the council’s proposed approach to tackling poverty for 2017-2020.
Cllr Richard Johnson, Executive Councillor for Communities, said: “The council is resolute in its commitment to tackling the poverty and inequality that exists in Cambridge.
“We have taken forward a wide range of initiatives over the past three years, from increasing incomes by promoting the real Living Wage to employers, to helping reduce utility costs for low income families.
“This summit provided a valuable opportunity to hear the experiences of organisations within the city who are also working directly with people on low incomes in the city, as well as external speakers, including the Equality Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, who brought an understanding of what has worked elsewhere.
“We will consider all the issues raised by delegates at the summit as we review and refresh our Anti-Poverty Strategy in the coming months.”
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