Covid could leave town with rampant poverty
Job losses created by Covid could see poverty in Dudley become "rampant" as the number of benefit claimants increase over the coming months, it has been claimed.
Council officers predict new claims for council tax reductions from those on low wages or unemployed could reach 17,500 at the end of July before falling off later this year.
In a discussion on Dudley’s proposed budget council tax increase of 4.99 per cent, Councillor Bryan Cotterill told a meeting of the corporate scrutiny committee that poverty could become "unimaginable".
He said: “I don’t think we can even imagine what it’s going to be like when we come through this.
“I know that there are still people being helped out by government handouts because they have been made redundant.
“One of the best barometers we have is the number of people who can’t afford to pay their council tax. They can’t afford it now.”
He added: “The food banks can’t cope with the number of people. Poverty is going to be rampant, it really is.”
Finance officers told the committee that government funding to cope with Covid meant the council was likely to balance its budget this year.
But they added the impact of unemployment would take "some years" to return to the levels before the pandemic.
Saying extra government cash will carry on to next year they added there were no indications it would continue after that.
A separate report to the committee said in all nearly 27,000 people receive the tax reduction including those on pensions and disability benefits.
