Our CEO Lisa Davis discusses local issues with MP Chris Grayling

Cost of living crisis, rocketing fuel prices, digital exclusion. When our CEO Lisa Davis and colleagues met Epsom & Ewell MP Chris Grayling this month (February 2022) there was no shortage of local issues to discuss. Perhaps most important was the need to do everything possible to stop the growth of serious poverty and rise in visits to foodbanks.

Citizens Advice welcomes the measures the government announced last week including a £200 rebate on energy bills, reduction in council tax and new help for those on the lowest incomes. Yet it’s already clear to us that many of our clients will need more support in the coming months. Analysis of national trends by Citizens Advice and the Institute of Fiscal Studies confirms the local picture.

Mr Grayling is very concerned about the needs of local people in this difficult climate. In addition to raising our concerns at national level, he promised to support local efforts by ourselves and other groups in the borough to increase the resources available.

We also discussed the provision of pro-bono legal advice in the area. Our advisers help a small number of clients get qualified advice they couldn’t otherwise afford, from local firms but the need for this advice is ever growing.  Chris Grayling knows the profession’s generosity in cases where miscarriage of justice is possible and offered to work with us to address the shortage.

We’re very pleased that we will be meeting Mr Grayling regularly this year as part of our campaigning work. He is keen to keep in touch to hear our up to date picture of the issues facing local people and help wherever he can.