AFTER cash-strapped Coventry Council were ‘unable to afford to provide food vouchers to hungry children’ over the Christmas holidays, a city MP has called for authorities to be ‘properly funded’ to support Coventrians facing a bleak New Year.
The pleas from Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana come despite Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove announcing a funding package worth over £64billion to help councils deliver frontline services.
This follows a year in which Coventry Council has expressed fears it may have to effectively declare itself bankrupt at some point and has warned of potential budget cuts in 2024.
Last week, Ms Sultana petitioned Parliament to urgently release more funding for councils, and she has also written to Mr Gove on the issue.
At the start of the current financial year, the city council was allocated a £6.45million government Household Support Fund grant, which helps people struggling to afford essentials such as bills and food.
However, a spokesperson for the authority said it had seen the number of people accessing this increase by 300 per cent and that figure was still rising.
Ms Sultana said the resulting discontinuation of food vouchers over holidays was a ‘huge blow’ to many Coventry families, particularly at Christmas time.
A council spokesperson said: “We know the Household Support Fund is vital to people across the city – and we have used it to support vulnerable households to help families stay warm and to buy items including clothes and bedding.
“We are working hard to stretch the funding and ensure we support the people who need it most, but there isn’t enough cash coming from government.
“We have worked to ensure there is support for the people most in need – including accessing food parcels and food for children at our holiday activities and food programmes which run over school holidays.”
Mr Gove said the government recognised councils were facing challenging times.
The provisional local government finance settlement he announced last Monday makes almost £4billion of funding available for councils in England in 2024 to 2025, a 6.5 per cent increase on this financial year.
The Funding Guarantee introduced last year will also be maintained so every council in England will see at least a three per cent increase in core spending power before any council tax decisions are made.
