Once legislative amendments have come into force, municipal social services will have to take on the burden and explain to residents why the food aid was cut and “bear the consequences” on their own, said Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LPS) advisor for social affairs Ilze Rudzīte.
Residents with low-income status will no longer receive food parcels starting next year. They will remain available only to poor residents and Latvian and Ukrainian residents in a crisis situation. In addition, by changing the amount of food aid, poor residents will receive one set of groceries per quarter instead of the previous two sets.
Rudzīte explained that municipalities objected to the reduction of support during the coordination process of the report from the Ministry of Welfare,
adding that solutions to optimise public funding or underfunding should initially be sought in areas and measures that are not related to the basic needs of the most vulnerable groups in society. Social inequalities and poverty are social problems that require appropriate attention in all socio-economic circumstances.
To ensure additional funding for European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) programme, the Ministry of Welfare turned to the Ministry of Finance. According to the response received from the ministry, no additional funding is available for ESF+ programme. The Ministry of Welfare was invited to assess the option to restructure the financial resources available to it.
After evaluating the response received from the FM and the opportunities offered, the Ministry of Welfare concluded that additional funding is currently not available and the only possible solution in the context of insufficient funding is to optimize ESF+ Programme expenditure in order to provide an opportunity to continue providing food support and basic material aid to socially vulnerable groups from mid-2025, thus ensuring support to the most socially vulnerable groups of the population for a relatively longer period of time – until March 2026.
Rudzīte added that municipalities presented various proposals to soften the situation. One proposal suggested including in the circle of beneficiaries people granted the status of a low-income household, determining the income threshold up to which parcels should be issued.
During discussions of the ministry’s report, municipalities noted that this support is very important to residents,
its reduction will have an impact on the social situation of households, worsening it. A large number of the people who receive this support are disabled people and pensioners. If this support is slashed, people will hope for greater support from municipalities, but their support capabilities are limited, said the LPS representative.
Although the Ministry of Welfare pointed out that due to the deadlines for the certificates giving the right to receive support, a transition period will arise, however, the municipalities invited the ministry to explain the changes to the residents in advance.
As reported, the report from the Ministry of Welfare explains that the decision to narrow the range and volume of recipients of food parcels was taken due to the lack of funds for ESF+ support programme. The changes foresee that from next year onward, only persons with the status of a low-income household and persons in crisis, including Ukrainian refugees, will be included on the list of recipients of food parcel support.
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