Asda cards for poorest from Birmingham City Council

People most in need will be given supermarket spending money from Birmingham City Council from Monday.



The council is to start giving out emergency welfare payments in the form of a prepaid supermarket card.

The card can initially only be used at Asda but it is hoped the idea will extend to other shops after an evaluation.

Plans are in place to restrict spending to essential goods such as food, clothing and nappies.

From Monday the local authority is responsible for the social fund previously administered by the Department for Work and Pensions.

In 2012 the fund helped more than 50,000 people in need in Birmingham.

It is believed the council is the first in the country to partner with a supermarket to make the welfare payments.

A statement from the council said: "The scheme is not intended to replace the council's statutory obligations, in any way.

"Each application will be treated on an individual basis... the applicant will usually be required to demonstrate that their need cannot be met by another source."

There is no automatic right to an award, which the council gives on a discretionary basis, usually after help from other agencies or council areas has been sought.

I have very mixed views about this, but I bet it'll not be long before we see an illicit trade in these cards.