Equalities champion Peter Barrett has praised Perth and Kinross Council’s performance in tackling poverty and inequalities.
According to the latest bench-marking figures, published by the Improvement Service, PKC is Scotland’s best performing local authority on Scottish Welfare Fund budget spend.
And the number of Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grant decisions made by the council within one day increased from 98.8 per cent in 2022/23 to 99.3 per cent in 2023/24.
Perth City Centre councillor Peter Barrett is the local authority’s Equalities champion. He this week praised PKC’s Welfare Rights Team for the “huge difference” it is making to local residents amidst the cost of living crisis.
The Lib Dem councillor said: “The team are making a huge difference to the lives of people who have found themselves in financial crisis. Their compassion, commitment and professionalism is incredible. The team have achieved outstanding performance in turning round more than 99 per cent of Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grant applications in less than a day. And they’ve done this at the same time as processing far more claims this year.”
In terms of its Scottish Welfare Fund spend, PKC has moved from third to first position and outperformed the national average of 128.9 per cent by achieving 214.9 per cent. Nationally, performance fell by 1.1 per cent.
Cllr Barrett said. “These figures do not, and cannot, convey the human story which lies behind. The reduction in anxiety, worry and mental health impacts experienced by people in debt and financial crises. But they do demonstrate the council’s unswerving commitment to tackling poverty and inequality in our area and to putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to helping those in greatest need.”
In October 2024, Cllr Barrett and SNP council leader Grant Laing tabled an emergency motion for an additional £150,000 of funding to ensure financial support would be maintained throughout winter and the remainder of the financial year. It was approved by councillors.