Stockport Council attends the GMCA-convened monthly cost of living response group alongside representatives from across the city region. This provides a useful opportunity to share good practice, raise on-the-ground issues and showcase some of the support available.
Taking inspiration from Oldham Council, Stockport held a cost of living roundtable event in October 2022 which brought together a range of organisations to discuss collaborative approaches to support. Following this, Stockport issued a ‘call to action’ open letter which confirmed its commitment to continuing to lead, mobilise and coordinate a ‘One Stockport’ cost of living response across the borough – working alongside the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, businesses and public sector partners.
The GMCA ‘cost of living dashboard’ has been useful in helping Stockport Council understand some of the challenges faced by local residents, including food insecurity and council tax arrears. Alongside this, support from the GMCA data and intelligence team and its Ageing Hub has helped to shape Stockport’s approach to increasing uptake of pension credit.
Julie Jarman, Head of Fair and Inclusive Stockport, said:
“We were concerned that many residents were likely to be forced onto prepayment meters in the winter of 2022/23 as a result of not being able to pay their energy bills. We were really pleased to hear how the GMCA and Mayor Andy Burnham were working with utility companies to try and mitigate the impact of the cost of fuel over the winter, and in particular to address this issue of prepayment meters.”
Pension credit uptake
GMCA’s ‘Pension Top Up’ campaign estimated that 3,163 Stockport residents were eligible but not claiming pension credit, equating to around £5.8 million per year in unclaimed benefits. In July 2022, Stockport Council began rolling out this campaign, reaching out to residents who were likely to be eligible through door-knocking, community groups and drop-ins, a dedicated telephone line, and through its partnership with Age UK.
This work was also supported by the council’s public health protection team, and officers received free online training from Independent Age so they could provide advice and guidance on claiming pension credit. The campaign engaged with 968 pension-age residents, of whom 207 were identified as eligible for pension credit.
Tom Plant, Senior Neighbourhood Management Officer, said:
“We directly supported 59 people to make a claim, worth around £203,363 a year in total, and many more are applying themselves without support. The campaign has also provided a useful pilot for further benefit uptake campaigns, and we are now looking at attendance allowance.”
Practical support for residents
During ‘Challenge Poverty’ week in October 2022, the council published its ‘Stockport money advice & referral tool’ (SMART). This is based on a pilot initiative led by Greater Manchester Poverty Action and takes an issues-based approach to listing the support available.
The aim is to enable colleagues and volunteers from across the council and its partners to have more meaningful conversations with presenting individuals. Copies have been distributed digitally to over 300 partners and 1,000 council colleagues. Printed copies have been distributed to teams and organisations including Greater Manchester Police, adult social care, libraries and Stockport Food Network.
There has been plenty of positive feedback, including this from the Stockport Support Hub, which issued the SMART tool to its key workers: “They have been a big help and really useful for giving on-the-spot advice and signposting.”
Engaging with the Greater Manchester (GM) Warm Spaces Network has helped inform the ‘Warm Stockport’ programme. Julie Jarman said it was useful to hear from other councils and share best practice. “Conversations with other councils supported us in introducing a light-touch and non-onerous approach to measuring the impact of our warm spaces. As a result we now have information about how they are impacting on communities and what is working well. We held a peer learning event in January for warm space providers to share learning about what was working well.”
City-region support
Councillor Malcolm Allan, Stockport’s Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources, said: “We welcome support from the GMCA. As evident in this case study, the insight and knowledge that we gain from other local authorities in Greater Manchester are very valuable and have helped to inform our actions in tackling the cost of living crisis.
“For example, the data provided by the GMCA’s ‘Pension Top Up’ campaign helped identify a cohort of eligible pensioners in Stockport not claiming pension credit, and through this campaign we have been able to support people to maximise their income. For some individuals, gaining this entitlement has been life-changing. We are also grateful for the opportunity to share our best practice with other councils through the GM Warm Spaces Network, coordinated by the GMCA.”