EMERGENCY schemes that give cash to people in crisis have seen funding slashed across Swindon and Wiltshire, charity Church Action on Poverty has claimed.

Figures released by the charity group indicate that both Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Councils have cut spending on these emergency grants by as much as 93 per cent since 2013.

The money was meant to help people with little of no spare income to pay for emergencies such as a broken boiler, flooding or lack of money caused by benefit problems.

The Local Welfare Assistance Scheme was set up in 2013 and was funded by central Government until 2015.

However after that date Local Authorities were left to decide how much money would continue with the fund.

In Swindon, funding has been cut from £528k to £187 in the last six years, according to the charity.

Nearly 12,000 people have applied for the grant with 290 approved last year in Swindon.

During the same time Wiltshire Council has made larger cuts of 93 per cent from £750k to £50k.

Application to Wiltshire Council have reached 9,654 with 119 approved last year.

Niall Cooper, the director of Church Action on Poverty, said: “The purpose of the social fund was that people could stay afloat and hopefully ride out a crisis, rather than sinking deeper into poverty.

“A lifeline in times of emergency is a vital part of a compassionate society, but it has been withdrawn in many places and neglected almost everywhere.”

A government spokesperson said: “One million people have been lifted out of absolute poverty since 2010 and household incomes have never been higher. For families that need extra support, we’re spending £90bn a year on working-age benefits.

“Local authorities are responsible for using their funds to best meet the needs of their residents, and over the next two years we are providing them with £90.7bn to do so.”

Councillor Russell Holland, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: "Swindon Borough Council has made some changes to how we provide services to people in need, which we take extremely seriously. The reality is that there has been a reduction in the number of people applying for financial assistance. It's important to remember that helping someone in need is more than just giving one-off financial assistance, it is about helping them to take steps to become more self-reliant.

“As a Council, we routinely work very hard to ensure that funds are given to those households with the greatest need. We work with people who make repeat applications to ensure that they are able to access assistance from the Citizens Advice Bureau, or other voluntary organisations.

“We continue to be proactive in helping people who find themselves in financial difficulty. In the last 12 months we have supported residents who have Council Tax arrears, provided a £51,000 grant to the local food bank to keep it running and helped set up a special enterprise network to allow local enterprises to work together to reduce financial exclusion.

“We are also active in helping residents to join credit unions and warning against the dangers of applying to loan sharks and payday lenders.

“We remain committed to continuing to operate the Local Welfare Assistance scheme for the foreseeable future while many authorities around the country have closed theirs completely.”

Swindon council, like most local authorities, has seen government funding, in the form of the Revenue Support Grant, axed from £13.6m in 2017/18 to £4.3m in 2019/20, a cut of 68 per cent since 2017/18.