Member News
A coalition of 15 organisations has written to minister for pensions Steve Webb MP, expressing deep concern about cuts to the Social Fund.
Plans to abolish the fund, which includes Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans, would remove "an extremely important safety net to many of the most vulnerable people in our society", say the signatories.
Community Care Grants are supposed to help people live independently within a community, or to ease exceptional pressure on a person. They may be used to help a family stay together or a person who has recently left prison.
The grants have recently attracted criticism from the public accounts committee, which said: "The way the scheme operates is both inefficient and unfair, and awareness about the grant is patchy."
In its call for evidence the government favours changing to a local system of support in which local authorities "build upon programmes and services that are already in place", citing the Supporting People programme.
Signatories of the letter have criticised this decision, saying that the vision of how local authorities and the devolved administrations will respond to the change is "extremely sketchy, and gives no reassurance that an adequate service will be provided".
The letter calls on the government to provide further evidence and "a clear business case" to explain and justify the withdrawal of such an essential part of the welfare system.
Jacqui McCluskey, director of policy and communications at Homeless Link, one of the organisations behind the letter, said:
"The people who stand to lose most from the proposed Social Fund changes are those who can least afford to lose anything. Two-thirds of legitimate demand for Community Care Grants already goes unmet. Reducing the scope of assistance further will present an even greater barrier to people with genuine needs who are trying to move on from homelessness and into sustainable, independent living.
"It is clear there is a huge, valid demand for Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants. Considering the number of people who will be affected, we urge the minister to begin a more considered review of these changes to the welfare system, of how the new system will work nationally, and the implications for the many individuals who will have to navigate it."
Signatories of the letter were the Chartered Institute of Housing, Citizens Advice, Community Links, CPAG, Crisis, Family Action, Gingerbread, Homeless Link, National Housing Federation, Platform 51, RNIB, Shelter, St Mungo's, Toynbee Hall and the TUC.
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