IT may seem obvious but decisions usually have consequences.

Sometimes the consequences are minor. For example, if I decide to stay out late one night, I usually feel tired and fractious the next day. Not a big issue for anybody.

Sometimes, the consequences are personally much greater. For example, my decision to take a job opportunity, which resulted in a move, had a lifelong impact on my family.

So it is for governments. When faced with a need to save money, the government has to make decisions as to where these savings will be made. Some members of society will be harder hit than others.

I have written several times about the pain being felt by the poorer sections of our society. Freezing most working age welfare benefits and the introduction of the new Universal Credit benefit, together with rising inflation, is leading to an ever-increasing amount of poverty in our country.

I recently received a copy of a local foodbank’s newsletter. I was saddened to read of the rising number of emergency meals prepared by this foodbank in Kendal. Almost 1,200 adults and 400 children were supplied with 16,700 meals by the foodbank in 2017 - a yearly increase of 34 per cent in the number of referrals.

But it is not just the lower income brackets who are impacted by government choices. Decisions affect schools, social care, police numbers, highways, defence - and the list goes on and on. We are all affected by government decisions.

So how nice to be able to write about a local government decision that has had a hugely beneficial impact on a few people in desperate need.

I am, of course, referring to a recent decision to accept 285 refugees in Cumbria over a three-year period.

I have written before about how delighted I was that the district councils, the county council, the housing associations and certain voluntary bodies agreed to put together this offer.

Well, thanks to continued great collaboration, we are on track to achieve our target. By the end of this month we will have welcomed 99 refugees into Cumbria, across all the districts. Some of these refugees have escaped the most terrible danger and exploitation.

What is more, the reports back from the officers and councillors who have been involved with the refugees are that they have settled in well, that they have been welcomed by the local community and that several of them have already found employment. The children seem to love the local schools.

I feel really proud of what we have done for these 99 people. Well done, the county council, well done everyone involved. We have given them a true Cumbrian welcome. Thank you.

Giles Archibald

Leader South Lakeland District Council