Emergency cash for England’s poorest people has been axed by councils across the country.
Millions of the most needy have had vital support snatched away after a quarter of authorities in England, mainly those run by the Conservatives, ditched a Local Welfare Assistance grant scheme.
The average award in 2021/22 was £229 to ensure people plunged into direst poverty had food, heating and a roof over their heads.
Figures show 21 of 34 councils that have now scrapped the scheme are run by Conservatives. Seven have no overall control.
Last night a charity boss who uncovered the figures estimated about 14 million households were affected.
In England, it is up to each council to decide whether to provide the scheme which gives direct grants to claimants in an emergency.
The average award in 2021/22 was £229 per household. Among those missing out is ex-social worker Marcia Monica Bailey, 59. She desperately needed the scheme to help keep her home after losing her job.
But her local town hall in Croydon South London, run by Conservatives, had scrapped it.
Marcia ended up homeless and slept for three months in her Fiat Panda after her Universal Credit of £1,209 a month failed to cover her rent. She told us: “If there had been a welfare assistance scheme it may have been the difference between losing my home and staying in it.
“The council told me I wasn’t entitled to emergency accommodation.”
Luckily Marcia found a room in a house share this month.
After £892 rent is deducted from her £1,209 a month benefits, she is left with £10 a day to live on.
Figures published by charity End Furniture Poverty reveal English councils spent the lowest amount on welfare support on record, £30.5million, down 91% since 2010.
In Scotland and Wales the schemes are administered centrally, and relatively well funded.
The charity’s head of policy, Claire Donovan, said: "The fact that more than 14 million families are missing out on vital support is a disgrace."
Among county and borough councils axing the scheme were Croydon, Dudley, Gateshead, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire Hampshire and Staffordshire.
