MANY Worcester households “are in crisis” as vital emergency support for families in financial need has dropped by nearly 70 per cent over four years.

Parents are being left at risk of debt and struggling to afford basics like food and clothing for children, as well as heating, following government cuts to crisis support.

Conservative-run Worcestershire County Council is one of only three upper-tier authorities in the country that devolves responsibility or local welfare assistance schemes to district councils.

Across the six districts combined, spending on these schemes fell from £701,794 in 2015-16 to £427,220 in 2016-17, then to £218,024 in 2017-18.

The scheme provides financial support for food banks, utility bills, rent and disability grants, as well support for people fleeing domestic abuse and more.

The Children’s Society’s new report, Nowhere To Turn, found the number of people receiving crisis support has plummeted nationwide by 75 per cent since the government devolved responsibility to councils in 2013.

Separate cash grants were then stopped in 2015 as local authorities faced unprecedented funding cuts.

Labour county councillor Richard Udall, who represents St John’s, said: “These figures are sickening – they show a total disregard to the needs of people in the most need of support.

“With the roll out of Universal Credit, the problem is only going to get worse, yet the Conservatives both nationally and locally have shown total contempt for the people who are suffering as consequence of austerity.

“The only other and much less charitable explanation is that they do know, but don’t care,” he continued.

“Many Worcester households, including those with children, are in crisis.

“We need a full investigation as to how deep the problem has become and how we as local politicians can instigate the changes needed to meet the needs of the people who are suffering the most.

“We simply can no longer walk by on the other side and ignore the issues.

“We are storing up real social problems for the future, we need to act now to reverse the decline in social support,” he added.

In 2012/13 there were 1.3m applications to the government for crisis support, of which 737,000 were successful, the charity found that under council-run schemes, applications for the same kind of support fell to 284,000 in 2017/18, of which just 187,000 qualified for help.

However, the 1,751 applications for welfare support made to Worcester City Council between 2015 and 2018 were accepted.

A city council spokesman said: “As the figures show, all of the applications we’ve received over the last three years which met the criteria have been successful and received support.

“Each application is assessed on its own merit – there is currently no upper limit on the number of applications the city council would support in any one year.”

But Cllr Lynn Denham, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Worcester, as well as the city council’s communities committee’s vice chair, said there have been strict changes to the criteria for applying.

The Children’s Society said the nationwide drop in applications, as well as 23 councils having scrapped their schemes entirely, while others do little to promote them, means many more families are being denied help than figures suggest.

Cllr Denham, who represents Cathedral ward, said city councillors had fought hard to protect funding, but felt more needs to be done to encourage families in need to apply for help.

“We [city] councillors have made it a priority to protect funding. The county council have utterly devolved any responsibility,” she said. “In Worcester city, we have ensured protecting that funding when setting funding for next year and the future, as we realise it’s a really important emergency resource.

“The criteria for this has been changed. It isn’t as well balanced as it should be, but I would encourage people in need to apply.

“The whole reduction in spending across the country is absolutely shocking. There’s been no reduction of need. The austerity programme and Universal Credit mean families are being pushed into debt and into poverty.”

For more on the scheme and how to apply, see: worcester.gov.uk/discretionary-welfare-assistance-scheme