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Madrid allocates only 0.5% of the covid-19 fund to residences and poverty

2021-01-05T02:04:48.529Z


The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has given vulnerable groups "the stone" of the largest bag of aid ever sent to communities


Madrid has once again relegated the elderly and the poor in the distribution of public money despite the thousands of deaths in nursing homes or the images of hundreds of Madrilenians in hunger queues.

The Executive of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has received more than 3,300 million euros from the central government's covid-19 fund, the largest extraordinary transfer ever made to the communities.

But as this newspaper has learned, Madrid has only allocated 17 million euros, 0.5%, to the Ministry of Social Policies, which manages residences for the elderly or aid for people at risk of exclusion.

  • Madrid saves four million euros at the cost of the minimum vital income

The Ministry of Finance, which has made the distribution, excuses itself by claiming that these groups have been beneficiaries this year of other extraordinary aid, but sources in the service sector for the most vulnerable consider that Madrid has missed an opportunity to improve life of the weakest.

"The most vulnerable people, those who have suffered the most from the crisis, are only given the stone", reproaches José Manuel Ramírez Navarro, president of the association of directors and managers of social services.

"For decades social services have not been important for the Community of Madrid and this is another decision that proves it."

Madrid is the autonomous region with the worst social service indicators, according to the analysis of official indicators that this association does annually.

Madrid has allocated the money from the covid-19 fund to a multitude of investments, from the work of the Isabel Zendal hospital (53.4 million until November), to subsidies for federations and sports facilities, which take 10.2 million euros.

The 17 million allocated to Social Policies have gone mainly to Madrid city councils, as a reinforcement of their services to help the vulnerable, according to a spokesperson for that council led by Javier Luengo (Citizens).

This council has also bought protective equipment and has opened special reception centers for patients with covid-19 of needy groups, including the elderly, minors under guardianship and the homeless.

The distribution between councils has been decided by the Minister of Finance, Javier Fernández Lasquetty, (Popular Party) and has been known by this newspaper thanks to a request for access to public information.

The covid-19 fund has 16,000 million and was created in June by Royal Decree to help the finances of the autonomies, in particular public health.

The central government has delivered the money in four tranches, between July and November.

Madrid, the most benefited

Ayuso has complained to President Pedro Sánchez of discrimination in the distribution of other aid, but his is the community that benefits the most from this fund, the largest lifeguard sent to the regions in all of 2020. He receives 3,347 million;

above Catalonia, 3,165 million;

Andalusia, 2,200 million and Valencia, 1,486 million.

President Sánchez initially intended that this special aid would serve to reinforce health.

But the norm gave freedom to the autonomies to decide the distribution, so in Madrid areas such as Education and Youth or Transport have received a shower of hundreds of millions each.

Lasquetty's counseling ensures that the money has been distributed according to the needs expressed by each counselor.

The response of the Community of Madrid to this newspaper includes a table with the distribution by ministries: Health receives 1,352 million;

followed by Transport, 312 million;

Education and Youth, 239 million, Culture and Tourism, 54 million;

Employment Policies, 53 million;

and Science and Universities, 40 million.

Lasquetty has decided to save 678 million received in order to balance the Madrid accounts due to the expected drop in collection.

According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, one reason why Social Policies has been relegated is that this area was the exclusive beneficiary in April of another extraordinary aid from the central government.

It refers to 38.5 million from a Social Emergency Fund for the pandemic (300 million for all of Spain) that Vice President Pablo Iglesias announced at a press conference at the beginning of the pandemic as a reinforcement of residences.

The PP denied in June having received this aid.

Then the spotlights were on Ayuso for his management of the crisis in nursing homes and it was a way to divert blame for the tragedy.

But according to Patricia Bezunartea, a general director in the Secretary of State for Social Rights, in June Madrid had not only received that money, but had already executed 60%.

The spokesman for the Treasury adds that the table with the amounts that his Government has delivered to this newspaper does not contain all the money destined for Social Policies: to the 17 million of the section of that ministry must be added 12 million of the section of human resources, which it has a total of 518 million (see table).

Seniors on the waiting list

The distribution of the covid-19 fund leaves the Environment, Spatial Planning and Sustainability almost in the queue, with only 10 million euros, but those responsible are very satisfied with that amount.

“It is a lot of money considering that this is not a direct spending council for the citizen.

In fact we did not expect to receive so much, ”says a spokeswoman.

This is one of the ministries that receives the least in the annual budgets (216 million).

In contrast, Social Policies is an area that manages direct services and its annual budget is 1,822 million, a money that mainly benefits people with dependency and families that receive the minimum insertion income (RMI), regional aid to people with less income.

As the central government introduced the Minimum Living Income in the summer, there has been a transfer of thousands of RMI beneficiaries to state aid, so that the Community is spending less on this concept than before the pandemic.

With 5 million, Housing and Local Administration, it is the counseling that receives the least from the covid-19 fund, only with the exception of the Presidency.

It is a department that also serves vulnerable Madrilenians through its rental assistance program.

A spokesperson indicates that this amount has served to raise its social rental plan to 38 million.

Ramírez, the president of the social services association, regrets that even in the midst of a pandemic, Madrid has not prioritized those most in need.

He also criticizes that Vice President Pablo Iglesias has not demanded that the communities invest the money from the covid19 fund in these groups.

According to Ramírez, one of the urgent measures that the Ayuso government must take is the reinforcement of the staff that evaluates the elderly on the waiting list for the dependency.

"Madrid has 4,000 fewer beds occupied in its nursing homes than at the beginning of the year, but it has a waiting list of more than 10,000 people," says Ramírez.

"It is the autonomous community that has regressed the most in 2020 in the dependency care system."

"With the one that is falling, with the social impact, we would like the autonomous communities to dedicate the highest possible percentage of funds from the state to social services," says Bezunartea.

"It is an obvious need."

Information about the coronavirus

- Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic

- Restrictions search engine: What can I do in my municipality?

- This is how the coronavirus curve evolves in the world

- Download the tracking application for Spain

- Guide to action against the disease

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-01-05

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