Child poverty cash handed back to Europe unspent

Over £3.5m meant to prevent child poverty as well as homelessness is now at a risk of getting wasted as the UK government has been unsuccessful to spend the sum, as per a House of Peers committee.

Peers have sent a letter to the country’s Home Office stating that it’s ‘extraordinary’ that the money from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived hasn’t been used till now.

They have warned that a certain amount of cash has been forfeited already and are tensed about the remaining being returned.

The government had said that there were a few barriers with regards to spending the sum.

However, the peers have sent the letter to complain that even after nearly 6 years, the government still has been unsuccessful to spend the money to address the worst kinds of poverty.

Around £580,000 of the unspent money has been handed back till now while a similar amount is still at a risk of getting deducted by the end of 2019. Moreover, the peers are also concerned that in case of no-deal Brexit, the rest of the money most likely will have to be handed back.

According to chairman of the EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee, Lord Jay, it is unbelievable that a part of the money had been handed back to Europe unspent whereas other EU countries have discovered ways to utilize this on a few most deprived individuals.