Full council votes to recognise cost of living work

At a full council meeting last night, Watford Borough Council passed a motion supporting work being undertaken to tackle the cost of living emergency.

In response to the cost of living emergency declared at full council in July, the Liberal Democrat Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor convened a Cost of Living Forum to bring together key organisations, groups and individuals to identify key issues and work together to provide solutions. This brings together Watford’s CAB, foodbanks, Watford Community Housing and other groups.   

A motion was put forward by a Labour councillor calling for warm spaces to be created. These are places where residents facing huge heating bills can spend time in a warm place and meet others. This motion was amended by the Liberal Democrats to clarify that the council was already putting those in place, alongside its other measures to tackle the cost of living emergency.

Watford Borough Council has also created an online cost of living hub (https://www.watford.gov.uk/cost-living-support) to help residents find the resources and access the organisations they need to deal with the cost of living emergency and is working to create welcoming hubs. Welcoming hubs will be warm public spaces where residents can meet in the cold months to save money on their energy in a welcoming environment.

You can find a full list of welcoming hubs at: https://www.watford.gov.uk/cost-living-support/find-welcoming-space-watford

Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor said:

"It is vital that we work together to help residents through the cost of living emergency. I was pleased that we were able to discuss the important issue last night. We are helping residents by making sure we support local charities, providing residents with important information about the help available and by setting up welcoming spaces where people can come together and enjoy activities.

“It was good that councillors from all parties backed our amended motion. Given the disarray in central government, it is even more important that we come together to make a difference locally. We must work together to ensure that people struggling with soaring bills are supported through this difficult period."