Crisis grants in crisis
Cllr Christine McHugh asked how much money was in the fund available for residents at the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 11th July and was told that the money had run out.
Cllr Christine McHugh said: “I am appalled that this vital service has been cut to nothing by the Conservatives without any notification. Residents in the Borough facing a crisis deserve to have access to functioning sources of advice and support. Liberal Democrats will continue to stand up for residents and fight these service cuts that hit the most vulnerable people the hardest.”
Following additional questioning from Cllr McHugh, it was revealed that Local Welfare Provision crisis and emergency grants had been suspended whilst a review is taking place of the service following the budget cut agreed by the Conservatives and Labour councillors earlier in the year.
Cllr Michael Headley added: “It is very odd to have staff in place but no money for crisis grants. To make matters worse the staff phone numbers had also been removed from the council website. How were they meant to help people in crisis, if no one knows they are there?”
A telephone number for the Local Welfare Provision service has now been returned to the Council’s website following this questioning, but there is still the situation that they are ‘unable to accept applications at this time.’.
NOTES
According to the Trussell Trust’s figures, Bedford Foodbank fed more people than at any of their other Eastern centres .
Comparison with the East of England
(source, Trussell Trust, quoted on itv.com )
- Bedford: 24,478 (Adults: 15,966; Children: 8,512)
- Colchester: 23,394 (Adults: 14,107; Children: 9,287)
- East Suffolk: 23,273 (Adults: 15,381; Children: 7,892)
- Southend-on-Sea: 19,932 (Adults: 11,964; Children: 7,968)
- Cambridge: 14,725 (Adults: 9,657; Children: 5,068)