A strategy setting out how the council will ensure that people have the financial help and skills they need and are supported during times of financial difficulty is being consulted upon.

Residents can give their views and feedback on Wealden District Council’s Cost of Living Strategy, which has been created to replace the council’s current Financial Inclusion Strategy.

The purpose of the proposed strategy is to ensure the council helps to build resilient communities that residents feel engaged in and are able to live safe and healthy lives.

It also sets out how the council aims to ensure that individuals have the financial help and skills needed, but are also provided with support during difficult times and with cost of living pressures.

A Wealden District Council spokesperson said, “The financial wellbeing of our residents is important to us. The general wellbeing of our residents underpins the council’s core aims and research has shown there are clear links between financial insecurity and poor mental health.

“Secondly, because of the way our services are funded, we need to ensure residents are able to pay for council services such as Council Tax and rent if they are a council tenant or leaseholder. This is because we rely on this income to deliver our services.

“Finally, the availability and access to services to support our residents is fundamental to the council’s core aims. Therefore, as well as the direct support provided by a number of council services, we do provide funding to some third sector organisations so they can deliver support to our residents.

“We look forward to residents’ feedback on the proposed strategy.”

The draft strategy can be found here.

The consultation is now live until 12 May 2023 and can be found at Cost of Living Survey.