Voucher scheme could help homeless families
SUPERMARKET vouchers and “intensive” support packages for homeless families are set to be provided by Glasgow City Council under a new fund.
When the city’s SNP and Green groups agreed a deal to pass a budget for 2024/ 25 last month, they allocated £ 1.2million towards tackling poverty.
Now councillors have been asked to decide how the cash should be shared, with seven recommendations outlined in a new report which went to the city administration this week.
It states: “Alongside reducing levels of public resources, the impact of the pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis continues to drive significant demand on services.
“This council recognises that the impact of these challenges is felt particularly keenly by those already living in low- income households who experience the deepening of existing inequalities.”
The new fund will pilot a “cash- first approach to support people facing food insecurity, in turn, reducing the need for foodbanks”, officials added.
It is recommended that £ 200,000 is used on “intensive” packages of support for “families in deep poverty within homeless accommodation”.
This would include financial inclusion support, as well as essentials for taking on a new tenancy.
Supermarket vouchers were provided during the Covid- 19 pandemic, and officials believe £ 65,000 should be spent on extending the scheme, benefitting people who are leaving homeless accommodation. The vouchers would “assist with the
purchase of basic items to facilitate sustaining their new tenancy”.
Councillors were also asked to put £ 300,000 towards the Scottish Welfare Fund, which can provide crisis grants, to help people with unexpected emergencies, or community care grants.
The report states that, during the cost of living crisis, demand “for the
fund continues to significantly exceed supply”.
There is also a recommendation for £ 500,000 to be awarded to the city’s health and social care partnership to “support cash- first initiatives”, while £ 50,000 could be spent on a pre- loved clothing initiative.
That proposal would provide funding for “a subsidised scheme for
children’s clothing”.
Support for families with a disabled child or children is also planned, with £ 75,000 set to be awarded to third sector organisations. An inwork poverty fund could also be created, using £ 10,000.
It would cover areas such as transport, childcare and supermarket vouchers.