What you need to know from Sunderland City Council's cabinet meeting

Bosses on Sunderland City Council’s ruling cabinet agreed to stump up £50,000 towards the costs of setting up a credit union, which they say will improve access to ‘affordable credit without the need to access payday loans’.

At the same time, council chiefs also agreed to renew contracts for services providing advice on their access to benefits, such as the impact of the Universal Credit roll out.

Other highlights from this afternoon’s (Tuesday, November 19) meeting at the Civic Centre included:

An overhaul of payments for councillors were approved by cabinet and are expected to be formally approved by full council tomorrow (Wednesday, November 20). Among the changes are a reduction in allowances for the mayor and deputy mayor, although councillors’ basic allowance of £8,369 will not change and neither will the ‘special responsibility allowance’ paid to cabinet members. Council bosses unveiled plans for a raft of seafront developments, such as beach huts at Seaburn Camp and converting the old Tram Shelter and former Bay Shelter at Seaburn into cafes and restaurants. Proposals for the council to become a social housing provider will be put to full council in an attempt to tackle the problem of vacant properties on Wearside and the ‘supply of homes for older people’, among other issues

A meeting of the full city council is due to take place at the Civic Centre from 4pm on Wednesday, November 20.