Today, on 6 August, the Welfare Minister Gatis Eglītis attended his first regional visit to the municipality of Rezekne. Deputy Minister Anita cande and head OF the new Conservative Party Latgale Development Centre Guntis Rasims also participated in the visit.

The delegation was expected by the interim administration of the municipality of Rezekne – head Monvīds Švarcs and the administration member Jekaterina Ivanova, as well as representatives of the social service.

During the meeting, visitors were presented with social work in Rezekne municipality – the structure of the social service, the budget, the services provided, as well as the deinstitutionalisation process. The main issues that have been addressed in the Rēzekne municipality, including the lack of social workers and carers, are also outlined. The Minister of Welfare indicated that the following year was intended to increase wages for carers, so the interest in this work could increase.

The municipality of Rezekne also drew attention to the large burden imposed on municipalities by social benefits: “for example, this year, THE Municipality of GMI will spend millions of euros, while business support projects have been able to earn only 60 thousand euros, supporting 14 projects, each of which creates at least one new job,“ emphasized Monvīds Švarcs. If the State would return the guaranteed minimum income (GMI) allowance in part, the local government would have more resources to invest in the development of the business, hence the creation of new jobs. '

When presenting the planned news, Gatis Eglītis said that the proposals for projects will be open shortly so that municipalities with European Union co-financing can build a typical home - pansy seniors. The Minister also promised, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, to increase the number of budget posts for students of social welfare programmes, as well as to improve targeted grants for social workers who work with certain groups of clients.

Madara Burtina,
Public relations specialist of the municipality of Rezekne