The amount will be allocated entirely to PEI’s to meet needs derived from the pandemic
Social Welfare will increase the endowment for emergency aid by 295,000 euros with a grant from the Provincial Council
In the first four months, the City Council has granted 694 PEI’s for a global amount of 330,000 euros
The Department of Social Welfare is going to increase the allocation for social emergency aid, the so-called Individual Economic Benefits (PEI’s), by 295,836 euros, thanks to a subsidy granted by Alicante Provincial Council. The councillor of the department, Ángela Llorca, has indicated that “this subsidy, which doubles the amount of the previous year, is aimed at addressing extraordinary situations of Benidorm's families and guaranteeing them sufficient income to cover their basic needs, whether they are urgent or insertion ”.
The mayor has indicated that "the pandemic has multiplied the demand for this type of emergency aid, which can be requested punctually or have them for a set time and that are granted to people registered in Benidorm in case of energy poverty or for the attention to basic needs ”.
For this 2021, and with the grant from Alicante Provincial Council, the budget allocation for PEI’s amounts to 745,836 euros. However, the councilor has remarked that "if necessary, this appropriation could be increased, since the social spending items of the municipal budget are classified as" expandable "precisely to be able to provide them with more funds depending on the needs".
According to data provided by Llorca, “in the first four months of the year, 727 PEI’s have been granted for an amount of 330,698.08 euros”. The bulk of these PEI’s have been allocated for the payment of the rent of the habitual residence, the payment of bills for basic services -such as electricity and water- and to attend to basic needs; while 33 of them are linked to infant feeding.
The Councilor for Social Welfare recalled that “apart from the PEI's, since the pandemic broke out, Benidorm City Council has launched different initiatives and aid to meet the needs of the population most affected by the social and economic crisis derived from the Covid-19 ". Among these initiatives, Llorca has highlighted “municipal aid to families, launched by the City Council both in 2020 and 2021, and with which more than 3.2 million euros have been injected into Benidorm's homes last year ”.
