Iain Duncan Smith‘s axe has struck again. This time its local authority welfare assistance schemes on the block. But we’re not talking reform or even cuts. The scheme had already been significantly cut last year. From April 2015 a £180m a year hardship fund will be abolished completely. That’s right. Scrapped. A vital safety net will no longer be there.
For years I’ve seen the value of crisis loans, which used to operate under the social fund until the government devolved funding last year, allowing councils to set up their own discretionary crisis funds. They’re a critical part of the welfare system to help people in desperate need.
By David Wilkes
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Realising that supermarkets were costing them a small fortune, they set themselves the challenge of shunning them for a year.
Sticking to ten strict rules, the couple limited their food budget to £50 a week and began buying all their groceries from local shops and markets.
Shop swap: Ian and Rebekah Pugh gave up supermarkets before the birth of their daughter Lizzie and say they have saved money and have a better diet
I hope it will soon become the norm for the old to be part of the mainstream of daily life
Is it something in the air of Halifax? Or is it in the air more generally? I suspect the latter. Millions of television viewers will be there tonight – Halifax that is – watching as Celia marries Alan, both in their seventies. The BBC television series Last Tango in Halifax, is a universal success, enjoyed by old and young alike. And in that sense marks something of a tipping point.
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