Agenda item

That the Lewisham Mayoresses: Dawn Atkinson, Natasha Ricketts and Christina Normanto; and Jentai and Marvin from the Young Advisors be thanked for attending the meeting and for their insights and contribution to the discussion.

3.1       Angela Scattergood, Director of Education presented the report to the Committee. Pinaki Ghoshal, Executive Director for CYP was also in attendance.

3.2       The Lewisham Mayoresses: Dawn Atkinson, Natasha Ricketts and Christina Normanto were invited to give evidence to the Committee and highlighted the following key points:

·         They had been running a Community Food Store in Deptford for the last three years and the number of people needing their support was increasing. They currently provided food for over 105 people/families providing food for more than 500 people per week, with 50 more on the waiting list. Emergency cases and referrals had also risen.

·         They were seeing families where the parents were missing meals to provide for their children and not able to afford food for their children. They were also supporting working people such as NHS workers who still needed the service to provide basic necessities for their families.

·         The store had had a uniform and warm clothing drive recently and items had been really needed by their families.

·         The Mayoresses spoke of people who were having to sacrificing their cultural beliefs to be able to provide food for their families even if it did not conform to their usual cultural dietary requirements.

·         The members paid £3.50 per week for access to the service and even that was becoming too much for some of the members.

·         The problem was not confined to Deptford where the Food Store was based but was across Lewisham and London.

·         The Mayoresses stressed that the fact that children in London were going hungry in 2022 was devastating and more needed to be done.

3.3       The Young Advisors, Jentai and Marvin were invited to give evidence to the Committee. They highlighted the following key points:

·         A lot of school uniform has to be bought from specific shops and can be very expensive which is difficult for young people and their families

·         The quality of the school food for the price was not always very good and the portions were not always adequate size or was food that sometimes young people did not like.

·         Young people needed financial support to help their families.

·         Heating homes is really expensive and the pre-pay meters were needing topping up regularly.

3.4       Cllr Howard and Cllr Sorba highlighted the Committee’s visit to Watergate School and the challenges faced by staff, parents and young people. A summary of the visit is included in the agenda documentation. Cllr Howard highlighted that transport to and from school was one of the key issues raised as well as the energy costs and accommodation challenges experienced by families.

3.5       Following all the presentations the following key points were raised by the Committee.

·         The Council had produced webpages including information about support available and information on benefits. These were being publicised to schools. Schools were also one of the biggest referrers to food banks.

·         The Council had undertaken a campaign to promote applying for Free School Meals to families and there had been an increase in numbers who were now eligible and receiving these. Schools were also being resourceful, trying to maximise the resources they had available to support as many people as possible. The Council would continue to review if more could be done on communications on these matters.

·         Members of the Committee raised the issue of the cost of school uniform and asked if schools were carefully considering what needed to have schools logos on for example. The Committee heard this was a decision for individual schools but many were looking to reduce branded items. Many Head Teachers were providing free school uniforms to some families and there were second-hand uniform schemes as well. The Committee and their guests discussed that this was positive but not necessarily what they were seeing happening and hearing from the people they worked with. Many families continued to struggle to purchase expensive branded school uniform.

·         A member of the Committee commented that the scale of the problem was so extensive that he now saw students needing to access soup kitchens and also trying to eat as much as possible at lunch as they may not have food available in the evening.

·         The Children and Young People Directorate would consider what follow up could be done following this report to further understand the challenges faced by families and schools.

·         The Chair requested that the report and minutes of this meeting be shared with the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee to contribute to their discussion on the Cost of Living Crisis.

·         The report included a lot of qualitative information including anecdotal evidence which was really helpful. In terms of quantitative date, a Council-wide product had been purchased to try and coordinate data from different areas of the Council to help identify and focus resources on where there was most need, to help target results. This was in the context of the limited resources the Council had available so that they could be allocated in the most intelligent way.

·         Natasha Ricketts commented on the standard of accommodation that many of their members were living in. This combined with the challenges of heating and providing food for the family was extremely difficult for some people. It was also causing a rise in people experiencing mental health problems including very young children. For example they had worked with children living in houses with severe mould problems.

·         Marvin from the Young Advisors, commented that the fact that some young people had no money for a social life was challenging and had a negative effect on their mental health. In some situations, they couldn’t let people visit their home either due to their living accommodation.

·         A member of the Committee commented on the increase in Special Guardianship Orders that had been listed in the report. The Committee heard that this was as a result of a reduction in the number of children going into care. There was currently 451 children in care compared to 480 last year. Where possible it was always prioritised that children should stay within their wider family network if appropriate with additional support. The Committee requested that there was feedback to Clyde and a discussion regarding this matter as the comments from Clyde listed in 3.1.6 of the report gave a different picture that more support was needed. The Director of Children’s Services agreed to look into this in more detail.

·         Many schools gave punishments to children for not wearing the uniform correctly. This can cause additional stress and challenges to young people and families.

·         Jentai from the Young Advisors commented that at the school he attended there was no school uniform and it reduced the pressure on young people and on families. He felt that at his school no one judged people on what they were wearing and it was really positive for the young people. Marvin from the Young Advisors agreed and said in Year 11 his school just made everyone wear all black uniform so it could be bought cheaply from any store. They both felt schools did not really need uniforms anymore and need to think more about how children feel and the pressure. Members of the Committee agreed and commented they would like to see schools relaxing their uniform practices.

·         A member of the committee commented that some children were working long hours whilst at school to help out with family bills and that LB Tower Hamlets were offering maintenance grants for 16-18 year olds of £10 per week. The Executive Director for Children and Young People commented that it was a very expensive support mechanism in the context of the budgetary pressures and ultimately would be a political decision as to what to prioritise.

·         A member of the Committee asked about schools funding following the pay awards and what could be done to support them with financial pressures. The Committee was informed that the Government funding would be clearer following the local government settlement in December. The Council was conscious of the pressures schools were under and were working with them closely.

3.6       RESOLVED:

That the Lewisham Mayoresses: Dawn Atkinson, Natasha Ricketts and Christina Normanto; and Jentai and Marvin from the Young Advisors be thanked for attending the meeting and for their insights and contribution to the discussion.

That a copy of the Committee report and minutes be sent to the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee for inclusion in the information they were considering for their work on the Cost of Living Crisis.