This week the leader, Cllr Stephen George talks about the green agenda, how small changes can add up and how to find out what help is available from the council.
Half term is already upon us, and the last six weeks have simply flown past. As the schools take an autumn break, the council is fulfilling its pledge to help the most vulnerable in our community and are providing free school meals to those families who are eligible. More than 10,000 benefitted from this scheme over the summer holidays, as figures show the council delivered more than £1.4m of government funding to those who needed it most through the Household Support Fund between April and September. A dedicated webpage has been launched where residents can find out what further help is available by way of grants and schemes to ease the cost of living, and today we have also announced our four-point plan to do what we can locally to address the cost-of-living crisis.
As I’ve already explained, the council is also looking at ways it can cut costs to tackle our financial challenge. After the half-term break, timings on the City Fountains will be adjusted. They will be switched off during the week (apart from school holidays) and be on over the weekend between 12pm and 5pm. We are also adjusting the timings of the seafront light totems to reduce costs. These will now go off at 10pm instead of Midnight. This follows on from us shutting the top five floors of the Civic. I will be letting you know about other measures aimed at reducing our energy usage and costs in the coming months.
As well as saving taxpayers money, the changes being made by the council also have the added benefit of being better for the environment. Southend-on-Sea City Council pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and a year since we appointed our Head of Climate Change, more than 50 different projects have been launched, are ongoing or have completed. We will be telling you more about the work we’ve been doing in the coming weeks. Even small changes in our habits can make a big difference to the environment and our wallets.
Enjoy half term whatever your plans are and remember to make a note to attend the Halloween parade on Saturday 29 October for some free spooky family fun!
Take care.