Riga, Oct 25 (LETA) - After the changes, municipal social services will have to explain the reduction of food parcels to residents and "carry the whole burden", Ilze Rudzite, social affairs advisor of the Latvian Association of Local Governments (LPS), told LETA.

People with low-income status will no longer receive food parcels from next year. They will be available only to the poor and people in crisis situations in Latvia and Ukraine. In addition, the change in the amount of food aid will mean that people with a poverty status will receive one food parcel per quarter instead of the current two.

Rudzite explained that during the process of harmonization of the informative report of the Welfare Ministry, municipalities objected to the reduction of support, stating that solutions to optimization of public sector funding or insufficient funding should initially be sought in areas and measures that are not related to ensuring the basic needs of the most vulnerable groups of society. Social inequalities and poverty are social problems that must be adequately addressed in any socio-economic context.

In order to secure the additional funding needed for the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) program, the Welfare Ministry approached the Finance Ministry. According to the reply received from the Finance Ministry, no additional funding is available for the ESF+ program and the Welfare Ministry was advised to assess the possibility of restructuring the financial resources under its responsibility.

Rudzite pointed out that various proposals had been made by municipalities on how the situation could be improved.

Municipalities pointed out that this support is very important for the population and that reducing it would deteriorate the social situation of households. Moreover, a large proportion of beneficiaries are persons with disabilities and pensioners. By reducing this support, people will expect more support from local authorities, but the possibilities of local authorities are limited, said the LPS representative.