Milton Keynes Council declares cost of living emergency

The Progressive Alliance - a Labour/Lib Dem coalition which runs Milton Keynes City Council - declared the emergency state at a meeting of the full council on Wednesday

A council which said one in five of its adult residents cannot pay their bills has declared a cost of living crisis.

Milton Keynes councillors pledged to bring forward a winter plan and look to support charities helping people with debt.

The authority has also agreed to write to government ministers to get details of their cost of living crisis plan.

Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Crooks said they were declaring an emergency to "defend our city".

Milton Keynes councillors say one in five of its adult residents cannot pay their bills

The Progressive Alliance - a Labour/Lib Dem coalition which runs Milton Keynes City Council - declared the emergency state at a full council meeting on Wednesday.

It said it would look at what support could be provided for organisations that deal with debt and budget management and would have a renewed focus on the energy crisis.

The council said it would make sure residents claimed what they could and provide advice on how to reduce energy bills.

Introducing the motion, Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Crooks said chancellor Jeremy Hunt, had "warned us that more cuts lie ahead, which already struggling families and businesses in Milton Keynes would have to pay for, through increased loans, rents, mortgages, energy bills and taxes".

"That is why we need to declare an emergency... to defend our city against a discredited Conservative ideology that has no respect for the role of the public sector in guaranteeing fairness, protecting the vulnerable and promoting equality," he said.

'More needs to be done'

Leader of the Conservative group, councillor David Hopkins, said they had "no hesitation" in supporting the motion.

"We should start by acknowledging the government's support in covering a proportion of the cost increases in energy bills and other support measures," he said,

Mr Hopkins added that the war in Ukraine and Covid had also affected the economy.

"But I do fully accept, as do most independent observers and indeed most in government, that the mini-budget of 23 September has worsened these impacts... and more needs to be done, especially locally," he said.

Liz Clement, from Newport Pagnell, said she was having to pick and choose what she and her children could afford to do

Initiatives have been set up across the city to help residents, but some said they were finding it difficult to keep up with demand.

The community larder in Newport Pagnell said it was struggling to find enough food to take on new members.

Childminder Liz Clement, who uses the larder, said she was already using her car less and was having to think about everything before she agreed to it.

"Whereas before I would say yes to everything for my children, now I'm going 'we can't do this', so we have to pick and choose what we can do," she said.

Louisa Hobbs, who runs the MK Food Bank, said people needed to work together

Louisa Hobbs, who runs MK Food bank, said she felt the worst was yet to come.

"It's not going away soon, I don't think this winter will be the end of it and we haven't even really hit the cold weather yet," she said.

"Yes we can get through it, but we can only get through it if everybody works together and really muscles in to support people that need it most."