Latest - Revised GCC Financial Inclusion Strategy

In May GCVS briefed members on Glasgow City Council’s proposed Financial Inclusion Strategy amid concerns that the proposal’s shift in focus to target support to the “most vulnerable” would prevent many of Glasgow’s citizens accessing free financial advice at a time when the need for access to good quality advice services is growing. There were also concerns about the proposed move towards a different contract delivery model, which could have been attractive to the private sector and worries that the plans to increase use of telephone and online advice would be at the expense of face to face interviews.  

GCVS are pleased to report that, following some serious concerns raised by councillors at the meeting and by advice agencies, a second submission was made to the Financial and Audit Scrutiny committee on 15 June that took account of many of the concerns.  May’s paper can be accessed here  

The May submission proposed the overall vision of the strategy as follows:

“To give our most vulnerable citizens access to quality advice, information and assistance that aims to help them from being financially excluded, putting them back in control of their life and enabling them to fully contribute to, and participate in, the social and economic life of the city”.  

The updated version reads: 

It is proposed that the ‘priority groups’ are retained rather than targeting the ‘most vulnerable’, and that the previous vision of services being open to ‘all our citizens no matter what their circumstances’ is retained.  

The initial submission outlined the Council’s preferred contract option as: 

One contract plus a layer of sub contracts, with a 3 area service delivery model, including city wide functional activities, which align with the Local Regeneration Agencies approach.  

This now reads:  A contract model of three area based contract lots (coherent with Social Work areas) plus a Citywide/ Specialist contract lot is suggested. This is consistent with the geography of other structures in the city and allows for specialist services to be delivered citywide.  

While we are pleased that this has been changed, the existing consortia, brought together in 2009, have had little time to embed the new approach and it has taken time to develop relationships. Changing this to a three area structure risks undermining current partnerships and will involve senior managers taking time out of the day-to-day running of their organisations at a time when resources are tight and demand is high. There will also be, like the previous arrangement, high costs associated with TUPE and legal fees which will leave fewer resources available for services.  

The updated version of the strategy has major concessions, but we have serious concerns over the budget’s 10% reduction, a decrease in excess of £1m over three years.  We recognise that the Council is in a difficult financial situation, but the situation Glasgow's citizens are in now warrants more spending on financial inclusion, not less.   We will be meeting with decision makers in the near future to outline our concerns over the impacts of welfare reform, rising food prices, in-work poverty and fuel poverty and are keen to work with our voluntary sector partners on these issues. Please contact iona.macaulay@gcvs.org.uk if you would like to discuss this further.  

GCVS have prepared a background paper outlining the serious financial situation developing among Glasgow’s poorest communities.  

Tags: Glasgow News, Local Authority, Welfare, poverty