1. Minimum Income Standard The view from London Local Authorities Cllr Roxanne Mashari Cabinet Lead Member for Employment and Skills London Borough of Brent

2. 1.How is this research useful to local authorities? 2.What is unique about the situation faced by Londoners and London Councils? 3.Where Local Authorities can contribute to issues highlighted by the report 4.Challenges

3. How this research is useful to local authorities Clarifies where major costs pressures are for families in London compared to the rest of the UK Housing, travel, childcare and social participation Quantifies for the first time how much extra it costs to reach minimum standard of living How we think about using discretionary payments & supporting affordable and accessible child care Work with developers and employers, wages up, travel costs down

4. What is unique about London and London Local Authorities Disproportionate concentration of industries where risk of non-compliance with NMW is high London workers more likely to be migrants - more likely to be paid less than NMW Safety net benefits fall well short 1 in 3 Londoners fall below minimum income standard London Boroughs face cuts of 6.3% this year compared with 1.9% cuts in shire counties London Boroughs spending per person has been cut by 31.4% compared to 25.7% in the North West Benefit Cap - marked effect due to high rents

5. Scene in Brent Brent has 2 nd lowest average weekly wage in London Central London rent levels (average market rate for 3 bedroom house is £505 per week) 30% of Brent residents in employment are paid less than the LLW Around 4 in 10 children in the borough live in poverty Several wards in top 5% most deprived in the UK Borough most impacted by the benefit cap in the UK

6. What can local authorities do? Wages & employment LA’s have links to local employers and range of partners including JCP and FE colleges Link local people to local jobs – reduce travel costs ‘Wembley Works’ links jobs in new development to local people Work with developers through planning to ensure local employment opportunities ‘Job Brokerage’ getting people on to working tax credits to avoid benefit cap Promote LLW Brent first in the UK to offer business rate relief to employers paying the Living Wage Targeting low pay sector such as hospitality, care where wages are low and non-compliance of NMW is high Bulk purchasing across authorities to boost wages and compliance Work more closely with HMRC, limited powers (Andy Hull ‘Settle for nothing less’ report)

7. Child care DHP Brent flexible child minding Pupil premium, school uniforms Admissions policies, siblings Housing & Regeneration DHP to help with shortfall in rent and transport costs Tumble dryers, damp Regeneration, communal space & socialising

8. Challenges Unprecedented cuts to local government – lack of ring fencing, CTS, LWA DHP 40% reduction in funding. In 2014/15 Brent spent every penny of the £4.6 million. 2015/16 budget is only £2.6million Uncertainty over LWA scheme, judicial review - Most applicants are single men and lone parents - Funded from council’s overall budget, government propose to cut funding Restriction of benefit cap £26k to £23k £12billion welfare savings how will this fall? Universal Credit, DWP referrals Agency