Issue - meetings

LB Tower Hamlets Poverty Review

Meeting: 22/09/2021 - Cabinet (Item 6)

Webcast for 22/09/2021 - Cabinet

6 LB Tower Hamlets Poverty Review PDF 283 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1. To note the review report and findings, and agree the recommendations set out in the report.

2. To agree an annual report to Cabinet outlining the progress made implementing the recommendations including our work with partners.

3. To note the equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4 of the report.

Action by:

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY, IMPROVEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION (S. GODMAN)

(Strategy and Policy Manager, Children and Culture (F. Winter)

Minutes:

Councillor Mufeedah Bustin, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion (Job Share) (as part of the wider Social Inclusion and Public Realm portfolio), introduced the report. She highlighted the high level of poverty, particularly child poverty, across the country and that a number of government policies were making this worse. She stated that supporting people in poverty was of critical importance and that the borough has some of the highest levels of poverty in the country.

She took the Cabinet through the report including setting out the many ways that the Council, its partners and the wider community offered support to residents. It was essential to ensure that all residents applied for the support that was available to them.

The Mayor welcomed the report. He highlighted that he would like the Council to undertake more work on older people in poverty. He noted the suggestion that Overview and Scrutiny could have a role to play as this work developed.

Councillor Peter Golds, Leader of the Conservative Group, highlighted the critical issue of loneliness among older people, particularly for the very old.