Bedford Borough Council’s Conservative administration said it is “appalled” by Lib Deb claims that emergency grants to residents had been suspended – calling it “dishonest nonsense”.
The Lib Dems said that Local Welfare Provision (LWP) crisis and emergency grants had been suspended while a review was taking place following the budget cut agreed by the Conservative and Labour councillors earlier in the year.
They added that cllr Christine McHugh (Lib Dems, Goldington) asked how much money was in the fund available for residents during last month’s Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee (July 11) – but said she was told, “the money had run out”.
Cllr 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.”
But the portfolio holder for finance & corporate services, cllr Graeme Coombes (Conservative, Wixams and Wilstead) said: “I am appalled that the Liberal Democrats would state such factually incorrect and dishonest nonsense.
“Let me be clear, the Local Welfare Provision is under review and the council remains ready to assist anyone who finds themselves in difficulty.
The purpose of the review is to ensure we are resourcing these grants efficiently and not wasting valuable resources on needless bureaucracy, which we inherited from the Liberal Democrats, who incurred approximately £74,000 in costs to administer just over £100,000 in grants.
“We are currently examining improvements to the service and looking into possible third-sector organisations to administer the scheme on the council’s behalf.
“We have been consistent in our aims, to improve services and target resources where they are needed most.”
The Labour Group said it had concerns about proposals for the Local Welfare Provision so enquired about this issue before the budget-setting Full Council meeting in February.
“Obviously to us, a complete non-provision of this service would be absolutely unacceptable,” a spokesperson said.
“We were told directly by the portfolio holder for finance in his response that ‘The proposal is specifically to remove the current administration costs of the LWP whilst leaving the funding for grants in place’.
“And that they were examining whether a third-sector organisation could administer the scheme on behalf of the council as they are likely to come into contact with people in need of Local Welfare Provision services.
“Interest has been expressed in administering the scheme by at least one of these organisations.
“Additionally, if the fund was transferred to a third sector partner they may be able to bid for other funding to supplement the Council’s funding, e.g. House of Industry or other grant-giving charities.”
The Labour Group said it will be following this up with the Conservative administration to see how this has progressed.
The borough council was asked when the review is due to be completed, but it did not respond at the time of publication.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
