JULIE ELLIOTT: Kim McGuiness's report highlights the damaging effect of the Conservative cost-of-living crisis

The research conducted by McGuinness has found that youth organisations, community hubs and neighbourhood support services that are on the frontline, helping others, are struggling with the mounting pressures due to the Conservative cost-of-living crisis.

Seven out of every ten youth organisations included in the research are now supporting more people than a year ago, and more than half of organisations said that the cost-of-living crisis has had a knock-on effect on crime experienced locally, concluding that the crisis has had a greater impact on their organisation than Covid-19.

The cost-of-living crisis is harming communities and having a truly detrimental effect on communities across Sunderland and the North East, and it is down to the political decisions made by this Conservative government.

Northumbria PCC Kim McGuinness says in her report that families and children are going hungry as bills keep going up, but the organisations that exist to help communities have had to cut salaries, tap into savings, and cancel sessions because they cannot keep up with growing demand and cost.

Short term and temporary fixes are not enough. The Government needs to step up and act on their promises.

There must be active measures and support packages for community groups to cover space, transport, and funding. The Commissioner has called for the Government to reintroduce emergency Cost of Living grants for charities and neighbourhood groups; these groups are the backbone of our communities, and they must be given the help they need to continue their work.

The lasting effects of the pandemic, and now the Conservative cost-of-living crisis, has also pushed more people into difficult living conditions. Over a quarter of children in Sunderland are now living in poverty, and yet this Government are more interested in protecting and serving themselves.

Sunderland, alongside the rest of the region, is experiencing some of the most concerning poverty rates in the country. The government is simply not doing enough.

After thirteen years of Conservative Government, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis made in Downing Street, it is important to ask the question: is the country in a better place now than it was in thirteen years ago?

The Commissioner’s report provides more evidence to show it is not. The Conservatives are holding this country back. It is time for change.