Government poverty funding not enough and shared out unfairly, say regional welfare ministers FIVE regional governments have slammed health minister Ana Matos unfair distribution of poverty funds throughout the country. Andalucía says the budget of 17.4 million – an average of one million per region – is far too low and that the criteria for providing funds is rubbish as smaller federal communities with fewer inhabitants and less poverty are getting more than Andalucía itself. Catalunya says the markers for deciding how much each community will receive is ineffective because it is detrimental to the more heavily-populated regions. The distribution of funds does not take into account the number of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion, says Catalunyas regional minister of family and social welfare. Galicias minister of welfare and work has expressly requested the central government base its funding on number of inhabitants, not just the percentage of residents living in poverty. The Canary Islands and Asturias say the funds set aside are not enough, and have criticised the inadequate sums they are due from Matos department. According to the Asturian minister for housing and social welfare says that 17.4 million euros is not going to meet current needs and is calling for the government to plough far more cash into controlling poverty in the country, which is said to affect at least 22 per cent and one in three children. Ana Mato says she used the At Risk Of Poverty or social Exclusion (AROPE) scale to work out which regions got the most or the least money – an indicator used in the EUs Europe 2020 Strategy. In addition to risk of poverty, the scale takes into account the number of unemployed persons within a household and severe material deprivation – defined as being unable to go on holiday, unable to afford to eat meat or fish every two days, not having enough money to heat ones home in winter, not being able to afford to own a car, washing machine or telephone, and not having a minimum of 650 euros set aside for dealing with emergency expenditure, among other factors. The five regions in question have criticised this one size fits all approach and said the criteria should be adapted to respond to the socio-economic situation in Spain, which differs in many ways from other countries within the EU-28. Mato has agreed to take their concerns into account, but says any changes she makes will not apply to this years funding, only to next and subsequent years. Source: Think Spain
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 10:40:54 +0000
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