Local Welfare Schemes Under Threat

The government has announced it is considering abolishing local welfare scheme funding.  The beneficiaries of such schemes are generally the poorest of the poor, sometimes the victims of domestic violence.

These schemes have already been cut back.  The government slashed funding for this kind of thing, when it decided to abolish the national scheme and force each local authority to create its own.  Inevitably, less money meant tougher eligibility.  Now it looks as if there might be no funding for this at all, which will drive people into the arms of loan sharks, a grim prospect.