Spending watchdog raises concerns over effectiveness of Social Fund

Parliament’s spending watchdog has raised doubts about the fairness and effectiveness of the Social Fund because of large local variations in decision-making practices and costs.

The Public Accounts Committee’s report also finds that only around half of potential users were aware of the fund, which is meant to provide a flexible and quick way of making one-off or emergency payments to vulnerable people.

The committee suggests better training is needed to tackle the inconsistency in decision-making.

Helping those in financial hardship: the running of the Social Fund from: www.parliament.uk