Crisis grants demand shows true picture of poverty in Dumfries and Galloway

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Every day 18 people in poverty seek an emergency crisis grant in Dumfries and Galloway, it has been revealed.Thousands of families and individuals struggling to put food on the table have reached out to the council for cash support.A total of 5,021 applications for a crisis grant were received by the local authority in the first nine months of this financial year – with many more expected in the final three months.This equates to around 18 pleas per day and two cases every working hour.The shock figures were included in a welfare and benefits report tabled at the council’s communities committee last Thursday.“This makes for a depressing report when you read just how many people are having to access the various support funds that we make available,” said Councillor Willie Scobie as he pored over the stats.Referring to the energy price rises announced last week, Stranraer and the Rhins Councillor Scobie added: “People will not be able to afford this, and we’re going to go further and further into poverty.”The council report detailed various options available to assist people struggling to make ends meet, such as discretionary housing payments, self-isolation support grants, and council tax reductions in certain cases.However, the council also administers crisis grants via the Scottish Welfare Fund.The report states: “Crisis Grant spend is predominately to provide cash to customers for food and household fuel.”A breakdown of the figures for 2020/21 showed that most crisis grant applications were made by people living in North West Dumfries, followed by Stranraer and the Rhins, Nith, and then Annandale South.A total of 1,159 claims were made by North West Dumfries residents last year, of which 774 were approved.