Salford city council has been hailed for implementing a real living wage.
This has encouraged employers from the public and private sector to become accredited living wage employers, which will help tackle poverty in Salford.
Salford is England’s first Living Wage city and launched a plan with the Living Wage Foundation to make this a reality.
The action group responsible for the initiative is made of representatives of local, businesses, the council, the University of Salford and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.
The hope is that this will make a real difference to Salfordians during the current crisis.
Graham Whitham, Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Poverty Action organisation (GMPA) said:
“Salford has been really responsive to that with some of the things they’ve been doing, in some of the ways they’ve been using the household support fund.
“That’s really important because obviously if someone is struggling financially, they haven’t got enough money to meet all their outgoings.”
The cost-of-living crisis has meant families are struggling to afford the basic necessities, so GMPA has developed a cash first approach to provide people with practical help.
“One of the things we’re really keen on is making sure we get as much money in people’s pockets as possible… as opposed to giving people food parcels and energy vouchers and other in-kind support.
“It’s really important people have got that flexibility and that choice and control over how they use the support that they’re given.”
The GMPA is also concerned that government benefits will not be enough to help families.
“We know the benefit system isn’t generous enough, so even if you claim all the things your entitled to, you still might be struggling financially.
“But we do know that the benefit system is complex because there’s lots of barriers claiming support. Lots of money goes unclaimed.
“So one of things that local authorities and partners can do is really try and drive up benefit take up by raising awareness of benefits, things like child support, universal credit and pension credit.”
The GMPA is putting its focus on tackling poverty despite central government policy.
“Costs are going up, so much and across the board, even if you think the extra support from the government for energy bills helps cover the increase in energy bills that you face.
“Households over the year have seen their bills go up across food, energy, other outgoings, their outgoings go up by £900.”
Salford Council is trying hard to change this though and wants to do better for its residents.
“In Salford we’ve really worked with them on their local anti-poverty strategy and think about how they make their local authority work effectively.”
• For more information about the Greater Manchester Poverty Action Visit Here
Recent Comments