A Christchurch City councillor wants the Government to play a bigger part in social initiatives in the city.

The chairwoman of the community services committee, Cr Carole Anderton, says the council spent $1.1 million on social issues in the first year of its Social Initiative Programme and believes the Government should meet some of the costs.

"These initiatives, and they are varied and many, certainly make Christchurch a better place to live. But more of them should be carried out in partnership with the Government," Cr Anderton said.

It was doubtful that many people would know the work the council did in the social initiative areas, she said. Also, there were hundreds of volunteers putting in many hours of work in the community keeping the schemes going.

"It is the work by volunteers, along with the support of the city council, that is making the difference to so many people in this city," she said.

The council’s programme was introduced in 1997 as a way of meeting the outcome of the Council’s community development and social wellbeing policy. As a result, 46 potential projects were identified at a cost of about $3 million.

Fifteen providers were selected to provide 22 separate projects at a combined cost of $1.1 million.

The projects include community facilitators, mental health care, refugee and migrant services, anger management, services for youth at risk, disability initiatives, drug education, out-of-school care, early intervention and various employment schemes.

"All these schemes are most important to our community but we must be challenging whether the full costs of them should be borne by the City Council," Cr Anderton said.

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