DCLG confirm 'no expectations' over welfare grant spend

摘要

The Government has chosen not to monitor how councils will spend a reduced pot of money for dealing with welfare assistance and social care pressures. A response by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to a Freedom of Information Act request by The MJ said there were 'no expectations or monitoring requirements' on use of the £74m. The £74m is just over half the £129.6m nationally the Government separately identified in each upper-tier authority's general grant for use on local welfare assistance. The DCLG had previously announced the end of the £174m local welfare assistance fund from April 2015. The department's response read: 'This [£74m] figure was reached by balancing the financial pressures on councils with affordability for the Exchequer in the context of reducing the deficit. Councils can use this funding as they choose. It is not ring-fenced.'