Susan Aitken: UK Government needs to address spiralling cost-of-living crisis

The citizens of Glasgow will expect no less from their local political leadership. Our city after all has borne the brunt of 12 years of Tory austerity and the information that has emerged in recent days about the coming inflation and energy costs is horrifying.

This isn’t about households ‘feeling the pinch’. It is about tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Glaswegians being pushed towards a precipice of financial trauma not of their making.

Just yesterday, one estimate projected the average household fuel bill will hit £4200 by January.

Less than a year ago the energy cap was £1400 annually. And last week the Bank of England announced projections that could see inflation rise above 13%, forcing up yet again the cost of food and basic essentials.

It would add insult to injury if, when in the grip of a winter of unprecedented hardship for so many, we look back on opportunities the UK Government had to address this situation but, instead, chose to sit on its hands. And with catastrophic consequences. 

Some of these consequences will, I fear, be more pronounced in Glasgow than many other UK cities.

Energy Action Scotland estimates over 35% of Glasgow households are already in fuel poverty. While the last 20 years has seen hundreds of millions of pounds invested in improving the energy efficiency of the city’s homes, many Glaswegians live in Victorian tenements which don’t tend to hold heat very well.

Addressing this through a mass programme of retrofitting is central to our plans for tackling the climate emergency. But that will take place across the next decade.

As we head into this Scottish autumn and winter during the biggest cost-of-living crisis in generations, for many Glaswegian households the UK Government’s fuel cost assistance isn’t going to go far at all. 

Earlier this week First Minister Nicola Sturgeon publicly called on Boris Johnson to establish a four nations’ heads of government council to help set a clear plan to help those in need in the months ahead.

The intervention of the Prime Minister is absolutely fundamental to any solutions that might emerge.

As we’ve seen during the pandemic, only the UK Government has access to the resources to provide the scale of assistance people require right now. And so many of the levers required to tackle issues such as escalating energy costs rest with Westminster.

But I agree with the First Minister. There is much we can continue to do here in Scotland with the powers and resources we have.

Anti-austerity measures like the Scottish Child Payment or the city council’s Holiday Food Programme are providing vital support for households. And it will give Glaswegians some reassurance that the Scottish Government will invest almost £3bn this year to continue to address cost of living pressures.

Something all levels of government can do to assist many thousands of families is ensure that staff who work in public services receive pay rises reflective of the circumstances currently affecting them, especially those on the lowest incomes.

Again, the UK Government needs to step up here to significantly improve its public pay policy, which has a direct connection to the amount of cash we have available here in Scotland.

Whatever specific actions are taken to ease the burden, local government should be closely involved. Councils and councillors are closest to the people and communities who need help now and we are often best placed to get that help to them quickly and effectively.

So today I am writing to the Prime Minister, making the case for Glasgow in this most challenging of times.

This isn’t about party politics. I have publicly acknowledged the financial flexibility shown at times by Westminster during the pandemic. But the reality is that tens of millions across these islands find themselves facing arguably greater financial uncertainty now than they did two years ago.

For these households and individuals, similar levels of intervention are again required - and they don’t have the luxury of waiting for the current debates within the Conservative party to play themselves out.

This crisis is growing by the day and while Boris is still in his job it is incumbent on him to act.

Employment legislation needs to change

Losing a baby at any stage of pregnancy can be traumatic for women and their partners, often severely impacting upon their mental health and wellbeing.

And with as many as one in four pregnancies ending in a miscarriage, more expectant parents are affected than perhaps we realise.

But we have something of an anomaly in current UK employment legislation regarding miscarriages.

As it stands, employees who experience stillbirth are entitled to two weeks paid bereavement leave.

But those employees who lose their baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy are not afforded these provisions. Instead, they must rely on annual leave, sick leave, or unpaid leave if they feel unable to return to work after their loss.

As is often pointed out, this means women who miscarry at 23 weeks and six days are not afforded the paid leave to grieve their loss.

My SNP colleague, Angela Crawley MP, has been trying to have the law changed at Westminster to give women who have a miscarriage three days of paid leave. Her campaign is winning support and its clear change is needed.

Tomorrow, I hope and expect Glasgow City Council’s approach to its employees who suffer a miscarriage to be given the green light for significant change.

The Wellbeing and Empowerment Committee will vote on whether to extend Parental Bereavement Leave to include staff who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy, including ectopic and molar pregnancies which also result in early pregnancy loss.

As an employer the city council supports the health and wellbeing of all its staff.

Tomorrow, we have an opportunity to underscore our commitment as a compassionate and progressive employer and acknowledge the grief and loss of all expectant parents.

Fund open for applications

After securing approval at committee last week, applications for Glasgow’s £55m Communities Fund are now open.

The fund is about tackling poverty and inequality, promoting inclusion and helping build resilience in communities by putting money directly into third sector organisations.

It differs from the old Integrated Grants Fund in that grassroots groups which had previously been closed off from applying can now access the financial resources to deliver work in communities across the city.

In the past couple of years, almost 300 groups have benefited from the fund and each of these engaged with almost 2500 citizens.

Opening the fund up has extended it to even more Glaswegians during an absolutely critical time.

Council officers have been working with the third sector to make the process easier for groups to apply and make it as accessible as possible.

In the context of moving from the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis, its vital that together we help as many of our citizens in need.

Of course, an application is not guaranteed to be successful but there are tens of millions of pounds to assist in the valuable work across communities and a first-time bid can put groups on the road to helping make a real difference to the lives of Glaswegians.