Cuts In Emergency Help Causing Widespread Distress and Hardship

End Hunger are campaigning to have the emergency help given to claimants restored.

People need help to move and overcome a range of issues they may experience in live. Without support these problems can become overwhelming. 

In the past, local councils have had schemes in place to help people in times of financial crisis, i.e. when they have so little money that they can’t cover their basic costs of living.

This can happen for several reasons, but more and more people are in this situation because of changes to the social security system, like increased use of sanctions, and the five-week wait for Universal Credit payments.

As the numbers of people needing financial support to get through a crisis have risen however, the money available to councils has been drastically cut. Over the past five years, as the funding provided by government has fallen, at least 28 local authorities have closed their crisis schemes completely, and almost all the remaining schemes have been drastically cut back.

The budget in Leeds for what is called the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme (LWAS) has been reduced from nearly £3.5 million in 2013-14 to £600,000 this year. That means many fewer families can get help when they desperately need it.

Please join End Hunger and take part in a campaign being run by Church Action on Poverty. You can email your local councillors to ask them about how they plan to ensure that there is a lifeline for people in your area using a simple 1-minute online action.

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