NatWest's chief executive has met business and political leaders in Bristol to discuss the impact the cost of living crisis is having on the city.
Allison Rose took part in a roundtable discussion on how soaring inflation is impacting local communities and what can be done to challenge this.
Attendants included Suzanne Rolt, chief executive of Quartet Community Foundation for West of England; Georgina Perry, executive director of Heart of BS13; Melanie Vaxevanakis, founder of MAZI project; Andy Irwin, South and East Bristol Foodbank manager; Terri Fletcher, manager, of Home-Start Bristol; and Kerryn Bell, co-chief executive of Talking Money charity.
The discussion started with the leaders of the charities and foundations telling Ms Rose and the NatWest Bristol team what challenges they were facing in their local communities. The main message to take away was that this “is not a new problem” for many people; these problems were ongoing before the cost of living crisis and even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Mr Irwin from South and East Bristol Foodbank said that the charity had seen a 13% increase in the latest financial year of people using the foodbank. He said that they are supplying 3 tonnes of food every week, and two of its outlets have seen a 40% and 60% increase, with a stock increase of just 8%.
Mr Irwin said: “There are lots of things pragmatically that could make a massive difference for people.”
While in Hartcliffe and Withywood in South Bristol, which is in the bottom 10%of places in England for income, employment, crime, health and education, Ms Perry explained that half of the community are in trouble. She told the table “trends that get described at population level are very very different to regional and local level”. She used the example jobs, of which there are not many opportunities for people in Hartcliffe.
Ms Perry continued: “It’s a cash economy in Hartcliffe, it’s a cash economy in lots of deprived communities. Payday loans are a massive thing, a huge thing, really problematic. People may have bank accounts, but we don’t hear a lot about ‘I am really struggling to keep my bank account at a level place’. It is usually cash economy, payday loans.”
She added: “Austerity has completely knocked the wind out of people. It has taken away any resilience, if real resilience is just surviving day-to-day.”
The table said that they had worked with families that could be facing up to £7,000 worth of debt, who can’t afford fuel, food, energy or homes. In some cases there are huge extended families living under one roof because people cannot afford rent and deposits.
Ms Rose thanked the table for their input and opened up conversation about how NatWest could help charities more at a local level.
'NatWest has put £50m of support into writing off debt for people'
She said: “Thank you so much for coming and sharing what you have seen on the ground. One of things that we get a lot of pressure is on mortgages and savings and we are doing everything we can to balance that.
“One of the things; I sit with the chancellor in the government and I say ‘well that’s helping a small proportion of society, but the bulk of society is in a different position. One in four people don’t have any savings and therefore savings rates and mortgage discussions are kind of irrelevant as people are living hand to mouth.”
She detailed how NatWest is keen to work at a local level and support its customers at a local, more personal level.
She continued: “So our strategy has always been, we live and work in the communities where everybody is, so how can we be really helpful and really focus on cost of living, distinct from disposable income. But the real cost of living crisis is happening with people who have been pre this living hand to mouth. So we partner with Trussell Trust, step Plan, Citizens Advice Bureau, we put funding into them because they are on the front line and make sure we do that.”
NatWest has put £50m of support into writing off debt for people, Ms Rose said that customers who get into distress with debt are not charged fees. She added that the bank will suspend things and implement measures to help where they can.
In terms of local branches, NatWest is giving its teams funding to support the local charities who know where the need is most.
Ms Rose said: “I recognise that the conversations we have at population level are different to locally. What we have been doing over the last four years is a real investment in financial capability and building people’s resilience and confidence. So we go into schools and teach kids about money. We put all of our education programmes around that, we are really focussing on apprentice programmes and getting people in, but what we are really keen to do is how can we practically help, what more can we do, how can we elevate the debate to where need really is.
“It is something I recognise when I sit down with Citizen Advice or Trussell Trust, the measures that we did have don’t work anymore because as you say people were in distress before and this has just exacerbated it. So really keen to do as much as we can here.”
She added: “I am very frustrated by the mortgage debate, which is really important but only 25% of the population have a mortgage, it’s the renters, it’s the people in social housing, it’s the people who are living hand to mouth, what can we do to help. You’re the experts so we are really keen to hear how we can help you more.”
The charity and business leaders were all in agreement that “cash transfers work”. They said “people use them and people use them well”.
Mr Irwin added: “When the last payment came out from the government, to the people who get it, it was really interesting watching the drop in foodbank use for a couple of weeks.”
'We launched a cost of living fund and we emptied it out last year'
MAZI project founder Ms Vaxevanakis shared concerns about young people, who struggle with mental health and have dealt with trauma.
To which Ms Rose explained how NatWest has partnered with Marcus Rashford to fund training of youth workers and implement workshops in youth clubs to teach young people about financial independence.
Ms Rose also added how the banking group also partners with The Prince’s Trust on initiatives for young people.
She continued: “One of the things we have on our website is a benefits calculator. Branch teams can help as well. So we can identify what benefits you would be entitled to. We are getting more access to people and it really helps the working poor families. The other week we found £1,600 in benefits for one family.”
NatWest also has a regional board to connect with the ecosystem in the region. Bristol has a board and a sub board.
Ms Rolt, chief executive of Quartet, which is part of a national network of 47 community foundations across the UK, suggested that the bank provide the organisation with a grant that they could distribute to the charities that need it.
Ms Rolt explained: “We launched a cost of living fund and we emptied it out last year because we gave out £1.4m really really quickly. Again it sounds like a lot of money but it’s not when it’s spread out. There is £2,700 left in that pot.”
She continued: “We have trusted relationships, you would know that by setting that up your commitment, you would demonstrate it.”
Ms Vaxevanakis echoed this saying that it is difficult for charities to get the funding they need. She managed to set up the MAZI project through support from the national lottery and Quartet, after “rinsing” her savings.
Ms Perry then raised a point that the charities need more support in helping people access the help that they need. She explained that systems can be “designed to put people off” and volunteers don’t have the resources to take on complex case management, which can include debt, mental health, and trauma.
Ms Rose responded: “We deliberately fund charities because they are the best people who know what is going on and do it rather than us trying to do it all. When we partnered with Trussell, Citizens Advice and Step Action we put in place a dedicated phone to link them all together.”
The table echoed this point that the needs of the people they serve have gone “up and up” and their volunteers struggle to take on the individual cases.
'The communities that are most in need are not getting air time on cost of living'
Ms Rose also addressed problems of gambling addiction and scams. She said that NatWest is lobbying the government on scams and major technology companies. Last year NatWest stopped £1.3bn of scams going into criminal hands.
Mr Irwin asked the NatWest boss if the bank could create bank accounts for disadvantaged groups like it did for Ukrainians last year. He said that these provisions are hidden away and asked if there was a way to make it more accessible and teach people about basic bank accounts.
Ms Rose said: “We opened them really quickly, but we opened them really safely as well because again a super vulnerable group so we put in lots of protection. So we could do that, we could do some more profiling."
The agreement was that there needs to be more awareness of what the bank is doing and a message for greater intervention.
Ms Rose ended: “We recognise it’s really important to support communities at the moment. The communities that are most in need are not getting air time on cost of living. It is mortgage owners and savers, it’s really important and we are doing a lot there. But we actually want to help the people that are needed, so I am very keen to continue to partner with you and anything you need the team will help. The more that we can learn and see from you, the more we can intervene and give practical help or partnership. We are very keen to help in any way we can.”
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