"People are terrified" about how a cost-of-living crisis could hit Newcastle in the coming months - and Newcastle City Council execs have warned of "red flags" suggesting inflation over the year ahead could hit the city's poorest people hard.
Leading Newcastle charity figures also joined council leader Coun Nick Forbes in highlighting their fears over he impact rising energy prices could have around the city - and health bosses worried about how this could exacerbate our already-strained mental health, too.
This comes just a day after Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the North East was again the UK's worst hit area for unemployment.
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Matt Wilton, the council's director of policy, told the meeting that while there were some signs of a "buoyant" areas within the local economy, there was a "very strong likelihood" of a "cost-of-living crisis" hitting our area.
He told a meeting of the council's City Futures Board: "There's some positive news, but I think it's fair to say there are a number of red flags that are starting to wave - and we'll need to sort of track it carefully.
"Nationally, Office of National Statistics estimates that the economy is now pretty much back to pre-pandemic levels, though I think that probably masks some longer term and sort of deeper seated issues in any economy."
He said the worry was that financial difficulty would hit on the most disadvantaged groups.
Citing "inflationary pressures" and rising energy bills in particular, Mr Wilton said: "There is, it does appear, a very strong likelihood of a real sort of crisis around the cost of living due to some of those rising costs.
"There's been a recent forecast that we'll see a trebling of the number of families in fuel stress from from April and the North East will be particularly affected by that. And in our city that will particularly affect the most vulnerable in our in our communities.
"The situation that we're looking at is the fact that we know this is a very unequal economy in terms of the UK, and that's replicated here here in the city. And some of the challenges we face over the next sort of 12 months are likely to sort of fall on the most economically disadvantaged and vulnerable in the city."
Although he said some sectors of the Newcastle economy - particularly life sciences - were in strong shape, he added that high vacancy rates in retail and in social care were worrying.
Council leader Coun Nick Forbes added: "We've got a real collective responsibility to ensure that we build fairness into our approach to economic recovery. That feels like one of the big picture conversations we need to be having."
Coun Forbes said the council would need to work to consider how to protect people who were struggling. He said:"The people who are going to struggle are not third party strangers to us. They're going to be our staff, the people that we come up against in our communities, the people that we know.
"One of the things that is worth thinking through is what else can we do as big employers in the city - or as people who coordinate services in the city - to ensure that we've got our own safety net for people who are otherwise going to find themselves really struggling financially."
Mark Adams, chief officer of the Newcastle Gateshead NHS CCG also raised the issue of how mental health would be impacted by rising household bills.
He said: "We know that there's been very significant increases in mental health issues for for people during Covid. And potentially these kinds of pressures on families can only potentially add to those things - which is a real concern."
Representatives from the community and voluntary sector told the meeting they'd already begun to see resources stretched by rising fuel prices and demand from people in need.
Lisa Goodwin, chief exec of the Connected Voice organisation said "we really do need a collective response". She added: "We know the levels of poverty in the city already and a 50% increase in energy bills is not manageable for a huge number of families.
"So whether it's discussions about how we increase the crisis support that's available, or whatever else it might be, I think we need to do that really quickly."
Lisa explained there was "tangible fear" among people and charities her organisation works with, adding: "Lots of the organisations who work with vulnerable people here are saying people are terrified about what's going to come, and what the next bill is going to look like."
Mandy Coppin, chief executive of the Streetwise Young People's Project echoed this - she said: "We also need to be mindful as a voluntary organisation that our energy bills are doubling too - and we don't get any grant extra grant allowance for paying double the energy."
She said that she had heard from other community organisations similarly worried - and they had seen people choose to return to working in offices due to rising energy bills. Mandy added: "We're seeing people coming back into the workplace, but we're keeping our heat and high and our windows open. So actually, our it feels like our funds are going out the window."
