A one-off increase of 30% to core funding for Sudbury's Citizens Advice, which also caters for residents in the Hadleigh area, and the employment of a cost of living co-ordinator were two measures accepted by Babergh yesterday, to support those in financial hardship.

Babergh's cabinet agreed to implement a set of measures to support the CAB – including a one-off 30% increase to the council's grant, designed to help support the provision of debt advice, and recruitment of a cost of living co-ordinator.

The recommendations accepted by the cabinet were suggested by the council's joint overview and scrutiny committee in December 2021.

Cabinet member for communities and wellbeing, Independent Conservative Mary McLaren, said: "These recommendations have been a bit delayed, but we have now been able to resolve some of the issues we had earlier.

"I am pleased to announce that the cost of living co-ordinator has been appointed, and we're now just negotiating the date that they will start work here.

"The person in this post will work with partners to ensure that all systems talk to each other in meeting the needs of people."

Independent Conservative Mary McLaren

While a cost of living co-ordinator had already been appointed, yesterday's meeting approved that decision. The wage for this post will be between £38,600 and £44,600.

Funding of £60,000 for this post, including on-boarding and other costs, will come from the government's department of levelling up, housing and communities – and therefore cause no direct cost to the council.

A spokesperson for Sudbury and District Citizens Advice said: "We are seeing demand for our advice escalating as a result of the cost of living crisis.

"People who may have had no previous need for our support are finding themselves in financial difficulty and seeking our advice.

"We are therefore very appreciative of the council's decision to increase our core funding as a one-off uplift.

"We are making all attempts to keep up with the fast-growing sources of welfare support in our district, and we are keen to work closely with the council to ensure that our community is directed towards all support available to them.

"The council's decision to employ a cost of living co-ordinator should assist in partnership working, as we will have a specific contact to speed up the process."

The other approved recommendations included implementing an integrated system for dealing with housing rent and council tax debt; improving the virtual operation of citizens advice and similar bodies; and contacting foodbanks to request that their clients are referred to citizens advice for advice on nutrition, budgeting and cookery.

The cabinet member for finance, assets and investment, Liberal Democrat councillor David Busby, opposed the recommendation that food banks should direct people to citizens advice for advice on nutrition and cooking – suggesting food banks themselves should do this.

Four cabinet members voted in favour and one voted against the recommendations.