On 16 August the candidates for Prime Minister’s tour of Conservative Party members arrives in Perth for a hustings.
If Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are lucky they’ll take the a chance to see a bit of Perth and Kinross while they’re here; take in the scenery, the bustling towns and the amazing produce.
Many people think of this area, where I live too, as a prosperous place with a brilliant quality of life.
Obviously for many that’s true but for far too many it is not.
Look carefully and you would see that in this area one in five children live in poverty.
That’s around 5,000 children, equivalent to the population of Scone.
This rate had been steadily rising prior to the pandemic and mainly fell in the most recent figures because of the £20 uplift to universal credit during the pandemic.
A lifeline that was cut in late 2021 by the Government that Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss were part of.
And immediate warning signs are flashing all over the area.
Government decisions played a role in the cost of living crisis
Broke Not Broken, a foodbank in Kinross, provided 32 food parcels in May 2019.
By May 2021 this had risen to 82. By May 2022 it was 185.
And the more than doubling between 2021 and 2022 reflects the massive cut to universal credit in late 2021.
It’s also worth noting that this is in May, before the impacts of the spikes in energy prices will have been felt and when heating costs should be lower.
Like the council area as a whole, Kinross is on average less deprived than the average community in Scotland.
Yet it has seen a near six-fold increase in what is euphemistically called “emergency food provision”, more simply, hunger.
These candidates for Prime Minister need to recognise that UK Government decisions have played a role in this.
People's meters are already running out and most won't have their heating on. The new PM better have this as the most pressing thing on their desk when they arrive in No. 10. Because if they don't, they're going to be responsible for a bleak midwinter that they could've avoided https://t.co/Vchd3j61Kl
— Chris Birt (@cdbirt) August 2, 2022
The withering of the social security system over the last decade has brought the cost of living crisis screaming into households across the UK, including here.
And as a minimum they need to double the support available to low income households facing terrifying jumps in electricity and heating bills.
But it isn’t just the responsibility of national politicians to tackle poverty in their area.
Those in power must prioritise this crisis
Councils can, and must, play a vital role in driving down poverty in their area.
Ensuring that childcare provision unlocks work for more parents.
Making sure communities are connected through great public transport.
Supplying affordable housing.
Providing accessible and responsive care services and nurturing thriving local communities.
They can also do much more to support and coordinate with the third sector who are often best placed to understand our communities and the people that live in them.
Almost every politician in the country – from the Council Chamber in Perth to the Commons in London – thinks we could, and should, have a stronger economy where more people can thrive.
But that won’t come about by ignoring the reality that many people in our communities face.
This alarm should be piercing the ears of any candidate for leadership of the Conservative party. The incoming Prime Minister will take on the responsibility for protecting people who need it the most from the crushing weight of energy bills and inflation this coming winter. https://t.co/ayEyyoBeki
— Chris Birt (@cdbirt) July 13, 2022
In a country, and community, as wealthy as ours it cannot be right that people are hungry and face being cold over the winter.
If fixing that isn’t the most important job of our new Prime Minister, or indeed the council and Scottish Government, I don’t know what is.
Chris Birt is Associate Director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Conversation