Kudos to the House of Assembly for passing legislation this month to help reform social assistance in the territory. But leaders must not stop now.
The Public Assistance (Amendment) Bill, 2024, makes well-conceived changes to the government’s assistance grants programme, which was rife with abuse for many years before reforms got under way after the Commission of Inquiry.
The proposed law, which has yet to receive assent from Governor Daniel Pruce, would expand the functions of the Public Assistance Committee to include oversight of eligibility rules, benefit calculation and grievance resolution.
It would also clarify eligibility guidelines for different types of grants: long-term basic income grants for three to 12 months; short-term basic income grants for one to three months; and single non-recurring payments for one-off needs.
These well-reasoned classifications stand in stark contrast to the pre-COI system, which relied almost exclusively on legislator discretion.
The shortcomings of that system were exposed at least as far back as 2009, when government auditors blasted its lack of transparency and accountability after finding that legislators had approved funding requests for items including lingerie, a trip to Grenada, a hair show sponsorship, and “tickets for models at a car show.” The COI revisited the auditors’ concerns and found that little had changed.
Accordingly, COI Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom recommended several reforms, which rightly started shortly after the COI report was released in April 2022.
In June 2022, for instance, government finally announced that discretion for awarding assistance grants would be transferred from elected HOA members to the Social Development Department.
This move was a huge step in the right direction. The law passed this month was another.
But much more will need to be done. Moving forward, officials should focus on establishing a transparent system that ensures aid goes where it is most needed.
The fundamentals are relatively simple: The type of help available and the eligibility rules should be clear and widely advertised; assistance should be delivered quickly and efficiently; and programmes should focus on meeting basic needs and not extraneous items.
Setting up a streamlined system that reduces bureaucracy is especially critical now when the local economy is facing challenges and small businesses are on the ropes.
Helpfully, legislators’ debate on the bill this month covered such points at length.
Opposition member Myron Walwyn also noted the importance of drafting regulations to go along with the new law. He is right. Among other crucial functions, such regulations would help to better define how the Public Assistance Committee, which will be the workhorse of the new system, goes about its day-to-day work.
Ultimately, the territory needs a reliable assistance programme that is flexible, transparent, efficient and fair.
Playing politics with people’s needs is simply not acceptable.