Government under pressure to rethink emergency fund cut

16 June 2011 | By Rhiannon Bury

Charities have put more pressure on the government to rethink scrapping an emergency fund for vulnerable people.

In November last year, the Department for Work and Pensions outlined changes to the social fund in a white paper which would see abolition of community care grants and most aspects of crisis loans, and the transfer of administration to local authorities from 2013 when universal credit is introduced.

Family Action, along with 13 other charities including Crisis and the National Housing Federation, has tabled an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill which is currently going through parliament. The amendment asks the government to publish details of a replacement for the scheme to ensure that vulnerable people can access money in a crisis.

In 2009/10 there were 640,000 applications for a community care grant, and 3.65 million applications for a crisis loan. Evidence given to the Public Accounts Committee last year showed that on average only 32 per cent of ‘legitimate demand’ for community care grants was met.

Helen Dent, chief executive of Family Action, said: ‘We are worried about the impact of social fund localisation on housing costs. The changes could mean that housing providers face additional pressures on support services and funds. Women fleeing domestic violence could be forced to remain in their homes, unable to flee the perpetrator or trapped in hostel or temporary accommodation because they just don’t have the financial support to help them rebuild their lives and provide for their children if they are rehoused.’

In a debate in the House of Commons yesterday, Labour MP John McDonnell said: ‘These mechanisms support people in desperate need and at key times in their lives, and they are safety nets when people are facing essential expenditure that they cannot meet.

‘They make a significant impact on individuals’ lives and in tackling poverty across the country.’

View the original article here

Irish premier Cowen faces renewed pressure to quit

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
Associated Press

DUBLIN (AP) - Prime Minister Brian Cowen could face a no-confidence vote and be forced to resign Thursday at a meeting of party lawmakers unhappy with his handling of Ireland's debt crisis, according to several lawmakers and other party officials.

Thursday's usual weekly meeting of members of the governing Fianna Fail party was delayed several hours as rumors circulated in parliament of a potential leadership challenge against Cowen - this time being led by senior Cabinet colleagues.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said he couldn't comment on speculation of an effort to oust Cowen. But he underscored the sense of a brewing leadership crisis by cutting short his own trip to the Northern Ireland capital, Belfast, to return to Dublin for a meeting he orgiinally planned to miss.

Jerry Beades, a member of Fianna Fail's executive committee who has long been critical of Cowen's leadership, said he expected Cowen to quit rather than confront a no-confidence motion.

"This no-confidence motion is going to happen, so he may be considering his own position at this stage," Beades said.

Cowen already has promised to hold an early spring election following Ireland's acceptance last year of an international bailout following its failed two-year struggle to control surging deficits and bank-bailout costs. Ireland officially received the first euro5 billion ($6.5 billion) loan Wednesday from the planned euro67.5 billion ($90 billion) credit line.

A Cowen ouster or resignation would throw Ireland's debt-recovery efforts into uncertainty. It most likely would trigger a national election within the next four weeks, rather than in March or April as Cowen has indicated.

The bailout terms negotiated in November with European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund officials require Ireland to slash its 2011 budget and close its European-record 2010 deficit.

But a key plank of Ireland's austerity push, the 2011 Finance Bill that will broadly raise income taxes, has yet to be passed by parliament.

Cowen has survived previous calls for his resignation from party dissidents. But Fianna Fail officials say sentiment is rising to unprecedented heights for a change of leader before parliament is dissolved and an election date announced.

The catalyst is Cowen's reluctant admission this week that he held confidential talks and social events with former leaders of Ireland's biggest financial disaster, Anglo Irish Bank, in 2008 - shortly before his government provided Anglo and other cash-strapped Dublin banks a blanket guarantee on all their foreign borrowings.

Ireland was forced to accept an EU-IMF bailout, to large degree, because the country couldn't cover the surging bill of honoring those debts as several Dublin banks ran short of cash to pay global creditors. Anglo was first to collapse. Ireland nationalized the bank and now is paying Anglo losses approaching euro30 billion ($40 billion).

Several Fianna Fail lawmakers told The Associated Press they expected Cowen to resign rather than face an expected no-confidence motion from a minority of party lawmakers. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because all want to keep their own party positions secure in event of Cowen's survival or ouster.

Two lawmakers said that, unlike previous efforts to replace Cowen as leader, this time the effort could have overt backing from several Cabinet ministers.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here