Resolved –

This Council notes:

·         Because of Government cuts more than one in four children in the UK are living in poverty (27.1% in 2015-16) and this will rise to almost one in three (31.3%) by 2021-22, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

·         Food bank use has risen rapidly in recent years with the Trussell Trust reporting it gave out a record 1.3m food parcels to an estimated 666,000 people in 2017-18, up 13% on the previous year.

·         People who are unable to afford food might also be unable to afford other essentials such as sanitary products. Young girls may be particularly vulnerable to the impact as it could lead to them missing school or having to choose between buying food or sanitary protection.

·         After being tasked by the Leader to explore how we can address this issue, officers launched a pilot scheme at Britannia House in May this year to take donations of products to be provided through the Storehouse, a local charity that supplies over 30 food banks.

This Council will:

·         Carry out more detailed research to identify the causes and extent of the issue, what good practice is already taking place and what more can be done to address the problem most effectively across the district.

·         Work with partners such as the Clinical Commissioning Group, schools, the Red Box project and the Storehouse to establish the best ways to tackle the problem.

·         Ask officers to report back to the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee before the end of December with their findings and options for scaling up our activity with partners.

·         Call on Government to remove VAT from all sanitary products.

ACTION:        Strategic Director Health and Wellbeing