Darlington: Bank of England holds Citizens’ Panel event
The event was the first time the town had been a host, and came as inflation rates eased towards the Bank of England’s two per cent target, after peaking at 11.1 per cent in October 2022.
In attendance was Professor Alan Taylor, an external member of the bank’s interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee.
People at the event were able to share their experiences of the cost of living with the bank’s staff and policymakers.
Professor Taylor said: “It was good to meet everyone at the Citizens’ Panel in Darlington to discuss these challenging and uncertain economic times.
“Our policy decisions depend on good information, so it is essential that we are getting around the country with the Agents to find out what is happening on the ground.”
Among the attendees were Barrie Tudberry and his daughter Emily, who travelled from Sunderland to share their experiences.
Mr Tudberry said: “I’ve come to get a better understanding of how the decisions of the Bank of England affect real people and the limitations of what it can do.
“It’s also important for me to be able to give my feedback about what the economy is like at this moment in time.”
Speaking about the impact the rising cost of living has had on his family, Mr Tudberry said: “It has squeezed any type of spare income that I had.
“The only option I had when my mortgage went up 18 months ago was to work more.
“You end up working more just to pay the bills and to keep your head above water.”
Emily, who is a student at St Anthony’s and St Aidan’s Sixth Form, said it was “important to have my voice heard”.
She said: “I think we’ve started to see the divide between those at the bottom and top of society getting worse.
“I’m only 16 and I’m at college five days a week and having to work both days of the weekend but even then I’m unlikely to be able to afford to learn to drive and get a car.”
The impact on younger generations was a prominent theme of the discussions during the evening, especially when the conversation turned to experiences of the housing market. It was felt that for many young people the idea of owning a house was realistically out of reach given high house prices.
Gareth Harrison, the Bank’s Deputy Agent for the North East, said: “It was interesting to hear the views of both landlords and tenants when we came to discuss the housing market. The rental market remains very tight locally, with ongoing rental price inflation in part explained by landlords passing on their own rising costs.”
Nicola Rahman-Knight, who runs a children’s nursery in Middlesbrough, was keen to learn more about the likely direction of interest rates. But she was also concerned about other rising costs that her business faces, including recent changes to the minimum wage and National Insurance contributions.
She explained that the nursery had responded to these changes by cutting the core hours that they offer to parents and charging a premium to those who wanted additional care at the start or end of the day.
“It breaks my heart but it’s the only way we can survive,” she said.
“Staff are going to get a pay increase in April because the minimum wage has gone up and most of my staff are on minimum wage however with us cutting hours in real terms their salaries are not going to increase at all. It’s hit us really hard.”
Michelle Cooper, chief executive of the Point North Community Foundation which provides funding and support to grassroots charities across County Durham, the Tees Valley and the wider North East, chaired the event.
She said: “I know from my day job what a hugely challenging time it is for charities in the region which are facing high demand for their services, rising costs and more limited funding opportunities.
“The cost of living has been and remains very high and that is forcing people to make some tough choices.”
To find out more about the Bank of England’s Citizens’ Forum programme, visit www.bankofengland.co.uk/get-involved.
