‘Abolishing social fund will hit women and children hardest’

Guardian readers – The Guardian – Wednesday, 25 January 2012 (originally published 22 Jan)

For many single mothers social fund is a vital service and taking it away will push them into further difficulties. Image: Alamy

This week, the House of Lords will again debate the welfare reform bill. Among other changes, the bill proposes to abolish the discretionary social fund – which provides grants and zero-interest loans to help vulnerable people with essential outlays (such as beds, cots or cookers) or deal with sudden costs incurred in a crisis, such as family breakdown – and transfers some of the funding to local authorities, which will be entitled, but not obliged, to operate their own schemes.

Critics argue that cash-strapped local authorities will not choose to spend these reduced funds on replacement schemes – they have unprecedented pressures on their budgets and no town hall will want to make itself a particularly attractive target to the poor.

The Guardian welfare reform blog asked readers for their experiences of the social fund. Here are a selection of their responses. Most asked that their names not be used . . .

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