Platform 51

News

Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Calling for a rethink on social fund reform

Discussions start in the House of Lords

Platform 51 is part of a 20-strong coalition of charities pressing for an urgent rethink on social fund reform as the Lords prepare to debate amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill today. In a letter to the Guardian, published on Sunday January 8^th, Platform 51 - along with several other charities including Barnardo's, Women's Aid, Save the Children and Family Action - urged the government to rethink its social fund reform proposals.

The letter, co-signed by each of the participating charities including Platform 51's Director of policy, campaigns and communications Rebecca Gill, was clear and explicit in its concern that funds meant for the destitute or victims of domestic violence - 'the ultimate safety net' - will get lost in the system with no statutory obligation ensuring vulnerable people are provided with emergency support.

"Crisis loans and community care grants are the ultimate safety net for the most vulnerable in society. For example, they enable women and children fleeing domestic violence to clothe themselves and furnish their homes; or parents in rural areas who cannot afford a car to visit their child if they are taken into hospital unexpectedly. We are deeply concerned at the government's proposals to abolish these elements of the social fund and pass some of the funding to local authorities, without any statutory obligation to ensure they provide emergency support to vulnerable people.

With councils already experiencing large cuts to central government grants, we fear that some areas will choose to provide no, or extremely limited, support - especially given that funding for crisis loans will be almost halved from £67m in 2010-11 to £36m in 2013. The government's own research shows some local authorities expect the extra funding will be diverted to plug gaps elsewhere.

As charities responding to the needs of vulnerable children and adults in already desperate circumstances, we fear these changes could be catastrophic for some, such as those who resort to illegal moneylenders or high-cost credit, or women who return to live with a violent partner because they have no money to furnish another home for their children. As the Lords prepares to debate social fund reform this week, we urge Lord Freud and the government to rethink these proposals and ensure the money paid to councils to deliver a replacement scheme is at least ringfenced for this purpose".

Click here to see the full text of the letter and the 20-strong signatures.

See also here for the subsequent coverage by the Guardian following publication of the letter.

Watch this space for further updates on this important debate.