A million-pound cash lifeline will be shared among needy Aberdeen families – but councillors have been criticised for refusing to pledge extra cash for warm winter clothing.
The clothing scheme was proposed by Labour councillor Ross Grant, who said £50,000 could be taken from emergency reserves in the face of the crisis.
It came as an Aberdeen children’s charity told us “essential items” like jackets are becoming “beyond household budgets for thousands”.
But SNP and Liberal Democrat council leaders stuck to the original plan, saying the authority is working with a “finite” amount of money.
No fund for winter clothing grant
The proposal for a £50,000 fund for families needing help to buy winter clothes for children was just one of a number of points Labour suggested.
Mr Grant issued an emotive plea for his political opponents to put their differences aside.
He said: “I’m asking the administration: if you don’t want to accept anything else we’re asking you for, please consider adding in the £50,000 for that one-off fund.
It’s not designed to trip you up, it’s not designed to make you look bad. It’s an idea that I genuinely hope you would consider.”
But administration figures in the Operational Deliveries Committee said the council’s emergency budget was just too tight to put towards the scheme.
Following the vote, Mr Grant said: “We know that we have limited budgets but there can be no doubt that we have enough money in the coffers to set this fund up.
“What could be more important than keeping our kids warm?”
Committee convener Miranda Radley responded: “I don’t think a winter clothing grant is a bad idea in itself…
“But there was a worry a lot of it could have been eaten up by administration costs and we were working with a finite amount of money.
It is certainly something that we will consider going forward though.”
Aberdeen winter clothing pressures
AberNecessities reported a 200% rise in demand for clothing in December last year.
There are fears it could face even more pressure in the coming months, following surveys that show many families with children at home plan not to turn their heating on at all this winter.
The charity’s founder Danielle Flecher-Herd said: “Increasingly, we are seeing more and more applications for winter clothing, jackets, cosy blankets and hot water bottles, as essential items such as these become beyond household budgets for thousands.
“Further support from the council for winter clothing would be hugely welcomed, and would enable us to further help our city’s most vulnerable at this critical time.”
But she added: “The council’s ongoing support to local charities such as Cfine and Scarf offers our team a huge amount of reassurance, enabling us to signpost additional support to families most in need.”
Foodbank feud appears to be resolved
Meanwhile, a dispute that led a foodbank boss to lodge a formal complaint with council chief executive Angela Scott seems to have been settled.
Sophy Green, the chief executive of Instant Neighbour, had questioned why £430,000 would be given direct to Cfine rather than distributed between other organisations.
But council officer Derek McGowan said the charity was picked as the best option to ensure the cash is fairly shared out.
Committee vice convener Ian Yuill described Cfine as “uniquely placed”.
And Andy MacDonald, Aberdeen City Council’s deputy chief executive, said the local authority was now “looking forward to an ongoing partnership” with Instant Neighbour.
Here’s how the money will be divided after today’s vote:
- Cfine will receive £430,000
- £300,000 to the Scottish Welfare Fund
- £100,000 to Scarf for the distribution of fuel vouchers
- £100,000 to ABZ works to support 100 lone-parent families
- A further £45,000 towards insulating 500 homes
- And £25,000 will be spent establishing a Family Wellbeing Fund which would offer advice to households who were struggling to pay their bills.
You can watch the meeting here:
Conversation