Cost-of-living crisis still ongoing in the Highlands 3 years after it began, says MSP at support event in Inverness
Is the cost-of-living crisis still with us?
“Absolutely,” replied Highlands and Islands SNP MSP Emma Roddick at the drop-in event she is hosting in the Spectrum Centre in Inverness.
“I see it in the casework - we see people are really struggling.
“We see people who have good incomes, households where two people are working who, because everything is so expensive, are not able to meet their heating bills and things like that.
“School trips are a further consideration whereas they were not before.
“I expect there will be very few people who were struggling one year ago who are not struggling in the same way still.
“It has not gone away. We need to highlight the support which is there.”
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Other organisations at the Inverness event - offering a range of support and advice on issues from debt to mental health - also agree the cost-of-living crisis has not gone away.
And with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warning that the October budget will be “painful”, many Highland organisations are bracing themselves for worse to come.
In addition, households will begin the run-up to winter with a 10 per cent increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.
The current cost-of-living crisis began in 2021 and while price rises are still at a slower pace than in 2022 and 2023 when households were hit especially hard by higher energy and food bills, many are still feeling the impact.
In a bid to highlight the support available, Ms Roddick hosted the drop-in event attended by organisations including the Citizens Advice Bureau, Inverness Foodstuff, Highland Council’s welfare support team, Change Mental Health, Highland Third Sector Interface, the Communities Housing Trust, Inverness Foodbank, Voice Ability and the Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland.
“It is not simply about inflation and finance,” Ms Roddick said.
“People who are struggling may be struggling with their mental health due to financial difficulty.”
She said many people did not like to write to their MSPs while elderly people and younger people could be quite hesitant about reaching out for help.
Following the Prime Minister’s warning about the October budget, Ms Roddick said it would place Scotland in a difficult position.
“I didn’t expect it to be this bad,” she said.
“I am disappointed and think it has real implications for the Scottish budget.”
Those attending included Iain McKenzie, vice chairman of Inverness Foodstuff, a lifeline project offering food, friendship and support for those facing significant challenges including financial hardship and homelessness.
It provides three-course lunches at Ness Bank Church and at Hilton.
He said the cost-of-living crisis was still very much ongoing.
“We are still seeing an increase in the number of people at Ness Bank and at Hilton,” he said.
“We normally do about 1200 meals a month and in July we did 1400 meals.
“There is a significant increase in what we are doing and I am not seeing any signs of it slowing down.
“I think we are seeing more families coming through the door and certainly we are seeing more people who are in work. It is not just people who are on benefits.”
He said in times of crisis it was the people at the bottom who paid the highest price and with warnings that things would get worse before they got better, he feared this time would be no different.
“We have to make sure the people who are struggling the most get through this,” he said.
“They are suffering every day.”
At the Communities Housing Trust table, Kirsty Partridge and Melanie Davidson said more new housing is desperately needed, particularly in rural areas.
A recently-completed project, for example, had provided homes for people who had previously been sofa-surfing, living in a shed and in a caravan.
On the Citizens Advice Bureau table, Fiona Rodgers and Catriona MacDonald felt people in rural areas were more reluctant to seek help and there was still a sense of stigma.
They urged those facing difficulties and hardship to seek help early.
“The cost-of-living crisis is definitely still with us and still impacting on lives,” Fiona said.
“People need to know there is help available.”
Speaking after the event, Ms Roddick was pleased at the response.
"I was really glad to speak to quite a few people who I just don't think we would've heard from by email, phone, or letter, and we were able to signpost those folk really quickly to the likes of VoiceAbility, Citizens Advice Bureau, and for housing advice just all in the same room,” she said.
“So, it was one of the busiest events, and I certainly picked up more cases than any of my surgeries over summer, and we're going to think about how we can best make this more accessible and reach even more people in future."
