Gift card can make positive difference

Susan Aitken

ADDRESSING austerity and the cost-of-living crisis is a key priority for Glasgow City Council. It simply has to be. The UK’s rate of inflation is at its highest for 40 years, food costs are rising daily, and the energy price cap is expected to increase by 40% by October.

For those on the lowest incomes, the bare necessities are consuming an ever-larger proportion of their household resources, and many will be overwhelmed.

In recent days we’ve taken a number of significant decisions which will make a positive difference to struggling residents.

Our gift card scheme has now cleared its final hurdle, with tens of thousands of low-income households to receive £105 to spend in city businesses later this summer.

Designed to give Glaswegians direct and practical help to cope with rising costs, the scheme has been made possible thanks to a £9.5 million Covid Recovery Fund provided by the Scottish Government.

The fund’s primary aim is to give businesses across Scotland a boost as they re-emerge from the two years of hardship wrought by the pandemic.

Here in Glasgow, we’ve decided that we can use that funding to do two things – both providing businesses with the customer boost they need while at the same time giving spending power to those at the sharp end of this crisis. To that end, more than 84,000 households will receive their gift cards in August, allowing them to spend the £105 in any of the businesses which have signed up to the scheme.

We have used the information which tells us which households receive council tax reductions to determine who is eligible for the scheme and letters will be sent explaining how to activate the cards. Measures will be in place to help prevent theft and fraud and these will be detailed in the letter, as well as contact details within the council for any advice and assistance.

Working with the Scotland Loves Local campaign, almost 800 business are already fully on board, with around another 400 expected to sign up in the weeks ahead. Advisors from the council will also visit as many businesses as possible to encourage them to join as it’s crucial that as many firms as possible in every neighbourhood benefit.

Of course, too many Glaswegians who should benefit from this kind of assistance don’t have full-time addresses and can’t be contacted via council tax details. So, we’ve set aside more than £400,000 from the fund to help those groups cope with rising costs.

Supermarkets, local convenience stores, butchers, greengrocers, cafes, restaurants and many other businesses will accept the cards and Glaswegians can keep up-to-date with where they can be used through the Scotland Loves Local website. Over a decade of

Tory austerity,

Brexit, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have combined to create the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

The gift card scheme can, I believe, make a positive and genuine difference to those worst affected.

And at last Thursday’s full council, my motion that the city council step up all efforts with the powers and resources we have to assist vulnerable people secured the support it needed to go forward. It

spelt out the things we can do in the short-term, such as making sure we assist residents accessing every single penny in benefits and support they’re entitled, to longerterm policies around fair work and progressive employment practices.

Ramping up all that we do to help those suffering most from this crisis won’t be easy. With budgets already over-stretched and demand for services rising, tough decisions are required. But we simply have to get our priorities right. That’s what Glaswegians need from us, now more than ever.