Highland Council to consider £3.2 million funding package to tackle the cost of living crisis

By Ross Hempseed

September 16 2022, 6:07 pm

Highland Council are considering additional funding to help tackle the cost of living crisis in time for winter. Picture by Maureen McLean/Shutterstock.

A new £3.2 million package intended to offset the damage from the cost of living crisis is to be considered by the Highland Council.

People across the region are feeling the squeeze as prices of food, fuel and energy rise, have had huge surges in recent months.

A survey, which predates the cost of living crisis, was conducted by Scottish Household Survey Report and found a third of Highland households were in fuel poverty in 2019.

This was compared to the Scottish average of around 24% and is likely to have risen sharply given the crisis facing households at the moment.

Highland Council is therefore considering a £3.223 million package of initiatives to help alleviate the stress from residents.

What proposals are on the table?

Proposals for the money include a one-off payment of £145 to around 17,400 council taxpayers who are receiving a reduction from their council tax bills.

Another proposal is an extension of free school meal payments to cover weekends during the remaining school holidays up to and including Easter 2023.

A regional fund is also being considered, with officials learning from the pandemic on how to support community projects.

FareShare could also receive £50,000 to purchase food for distribution to areas most in need across the Highlands.

Council leader Raymond Bremner wants to help Highland residents get through the next few months. Picture by Sandy McCook.

Leader of Highland Council, Raymond Bremner, said: “A key focus of the welfare proposals set out in this report is to enable Highland communities to eat, to keep warm, and to continue to live safely in their homes.

“The proposals are intended to help alleviate the significant pressures which are impacting households across the Highlands.

“We don’t have the legal or fiscal powers to decide the necessary legislative and structural changes, and financial packages of support, to mitigate or suppress the cost-of-living crisis for Highland residents.

“However, we will look to collaborate with the Scottish Government, with a view to engaging with utility companies to seek more preferential energy tariffs for social tenants in Highland.”

The proposals will be debated by councillors on Thursday, September 22 at a full council meeting.