Shropshire Star

Telford councillors slam Government as emergency support for those in crisis is slashed

Members of Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet have slammed the Government for slashing emergency support for residents in crisis.

Published

Funding for Local Crisis Assistance and Local Resettlement Assistance will cease across the country in March next year.

Telford & Wrekin Council councillors have agreed to put an extra £138,000 into the funding pot to keep the scheme afloat for the next financial year. Assistance is provided to the most needy through goods or services.

At a cabinet meeting this week, cabinet members voted to change the name of the initiative to Emergency Welfare Assistance, approved a new policy and agreed to allocate extra funds.

Key reasons why residents receive crisis assistance include poor budgeting skills, debt, becoming homeless or moving into temporary accommodation, suspension of benefits or payments being delayed.

The council is forecasting that the scheme will be £104,000 underspent at the end of the financial year after receiving less applications than initially predicted.

This money is set to roll forward into the next financial year and topped up by the extra £138,000. It will then be reviewed again at the end of the 2015/16 financial year.

Councillor Bill McClements, cabinet member for finance and enterprise, said: "This new scheme has been designed to ensure local people who are in genuine need can access assistance in the form of goods and services at short notice.

"Government has taken away all money for this scheme. There is something we should be saying back to central government

"There is money left so we can go on for another year. Then we will face how it will go on."

Councillor Shaun Davies said: "On one hand the Government says it is compassionate about people plunged into poverty and then with the other they rip away the funding.

"I think that the Government should apologise for this. They should be ashamed of themselves."

As part of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 two parts of the discretionary Social Fund that were administered by the Department for Work and Pensions were abolished in April 2013, with the Government instead providing each council with funding to develop their own local welfare provision.

Under the Act in the Telford & Wrekin area, Job Centre Plus awarded grants to help those in need totalling £585,000 in 2010/11 and £514,200 in 2011/12.

A review of the existing scheme presented to cabinet members shows a decline in applications.

There were 1,274 applications received in 2013/14 at a cost of£83,155 and between April 1 this year and September 30, there were 603 applications at a cost of £29,653.

Liberal Democrat group leader Bill Tomlinson added: "It is another attempt by Government to pass on responsibly of various functions- then they can always blame local Government instead. "Isn't it immoral to take away from this who are desperate? "

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