Food Bank Use Will Soar After Universal Credit Rollout

Government plans to move 3 million people currently receiving tax credits and disability benefits on to universal credit from next April will trigger an explosion in food bank use, the Trussell Trust has warned. The trust – the UK’s biggest food bank network – said urgent changes to the “managed migration” programme are needed to protect vulnerable claimants from falling into hardship or dropping out of the benefit system altogether. The warning came as MPs prepare to scrutinise safeguards around managed migration with some concerned that too many claimants will be put at risk. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/05/food-bank-use-will-soar-after-universal-credit-rollout-warns-charity

More Than 500,000 Supported By Foodbanks In Only Six Months

More than half a million people were supported by foodbanks in the first six months of this year, according to statistics from the Trussell Trust, as the number of families left dependent on foodbanks due to Government austerity measures is set to reach a record high in 2016. The staggering statistics reveal 519,342 three day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis between April and September 2016, including 188,584 children. This is compared to 506,369 during the same period last year, with benefit delays and changes cited as the main reason people are forced to turn to foodbanks. Problems with benefits accounted for 44% of all referrals, followed by low-income caused by issues such as insecure employment. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Poverty Forcing People to Turn to Fuel Banks

In a church hall in one of South West London’s most affluent neighbourhoods, a fuel bank has opened to help those who cannot afford to pay for their energy bills. This is a pilot project run in ­partnership between charities including the Trussell Trust and funded by the energy giant npower. It is a radical new idea to tackle the “heat or eat” dilemma.  Fuel and food poverty go hand in hand. Research by Citizens Advice suggests one in six homes using energy meters disconnect supplies every year to save money. This means some 1.6 million people could be going without gas and electricity.  The npower scheme has three pilot areas – Durham, Gloucester and Kingston upon Thames. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Welfare Delays Cause Soaring Numbers Using Food Banks

Delays and gaps in the welfare state are behind the soaring numbers turning to food banks, according to new research into those relying on charity in Britain. Minor adjustments to the benefits system could prevent many from needing emergency food, research commissioned by Oxfam, Child Poverty Action Group, Church of England and The Trussell Trust has found. For more than half of those interviewed, the immediate trigger which sent them to a food bank was linked to problems with welfare, including waiting for benefits to be paid, sanctions, problems with Employment Support Allowance or missing tax credits. Read more on the Independent website.

Huge Rise in Food Bank Use as Demand Linked To 'Welfare Reform'

Food banks across Britain are being inundated with requests for emergency meals as families struggle to feed their children through the school holidays.

The Trussell Trust, which runs the country’s largest network of food banks, says this is the busiest summer it has ever experienced, with some of its branches seeing double the number of requests for emergency parcels since the start of the holidays.  The trust says the situation is worse than last summer because of rising food prices – which despite falling slightly in the latest Government figures are more than 4 per cent higher than last year – and the impact of the Coalition’s welfare changes that were launched in April.

Read more on the Independent website.