Councillor Brands Move To Cut Community Pantries Funding "Cruel And Heartless"

A “cruel and heartless” move to cut funding for community pantries by 46 per cent came under fire at County Hall yesterday evening (Wednesday).

The Corporate Scrutiny Committee (CSC) recommended cabinet member Cllr Debbie Andre restore funding (with inflation) to the Island’s community pantries and larder for 2025/26, to at least £145,000.

Councillors have asked why community pantries are facing a 46 per cent funding cut despite overall government funding ‘only being reduced by 12 per cent’.

Cllr Andre made a delegated decision on April 24 to approve County Hall’s delivery plan for Household Support Fund (HSF 7) – £742 million in government funding distributed through unitary and county councils to help vulnerable households.

The council is planning to spend the £1,994,369.25 Isle of Wight HSF on various initiatives including a supermarket voucher initiative worth £400,000, £500,000 in community grants, and a utility, food and white goods support scheme worth £350,000.

Cllr Andre’s decision, which can still be reconsidered, was called in for scrutiny by Cllr Geoff Brodie, with the support of eight other councillors.

Though calling Cllr Andre a “highly moral person” with “strong ethics”, Cllr Brodie branded her decision “cruel and heartless” yesterday.

“It is not the sort of decision I expect of you, Cllr Andre; it’s the sort of decision, frankly, I would have expected of Conservative administrations in the past”, the Pan and Barton representative told the chamber.

The CSC also voted for two other recommendations relating to the HSF delivery plan.

The first is to allocate ‘some of any remaining funds from the £175,000 allocated to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to other organisations offering crisis prevention support and guidance’.

A statement justifying the call-in probed the £175,000 for the Isle of Wight CAB’s Information, Advice and Guidance provisions – services described as “woefully inadequate” by Aspire, Pan Together, Ventnor Town Council and West Wight Sports and Community Centre.

Secondly, the CSC recommended the council does not use government funding for schemes such as the HSF to replace “core funding”, particularly in relation to “poverty reduction matters”, as proposed by Cllr Brodie.

In a question to Cllr Andre, the Isle of Wight Conservatives’ leader Cllr Ed Blake said:

“I’m interested in how this decision has been made. Obviously, you’ve had less money come in, so you’ve got to make some savings.

“Surely, as the delegated decision-maker you’d have baulked at the thought of this money coming away from the pantries to support the CAB?”

The cabinet member replied:

“As I’ve previously said, each HSF stands alone. So, I think it’s not helpful to talk in terms of savings.

"Yes, we can look at year-on-year comparisons, but we’ve made it quite clear that in the previous year we received more money and therefore we were able to effectively pump-prime the pantries.

“We received notification of HSF 7 on March 4 but it was on April 9 that council officers reviewed the allocation made in previous HSF rounds, together with feedback received from Island residents.

“Every fund is individual and it’s a new grant agreement with new criteria. So, I don’t think it’s helpful to say you’re taking away from one and giving it to the other."