Newly Elected Tory MP Accused Of ‘Cashing In’ On Food Banks

A newly elected Conservative MP has been criticised after it emerged she owns an app that charges foodbanks to include their shopping lists of needed items. Miriam Cates and her husband, Dave, are behind the app, called Foodbank. Launched in 2014, the app allows individual foodbanks to register which particular items of food they need, so people keen to donate can ensure they purchase things actually needed by their local facility. However, any foodbank that wishes to sign up to the app must first pay a fee of £180. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/newly-elected-tory-mp-accused-of-cashing-in-on-food-banks/

How Universal Credit Is Fuelling Britain’s Homelessness Crisis

Government welfare reforms are fuelling a rise in homelessness in towns and cities across the country, an Observer investigation has found. Interviews with homelessness charities across England reveal a support system in crisis as the rollout of universal credit and freezes to local housing allowance rates put even basic accommodation beyond the means of many. One shelter said universal credit was a factor in a third of its clients ending up in its care. The Commons public accounts committee said universal credit was responsible for increased debt, rent arrears and food bank use.But it has also emerged that it is a significant contributor to both “invisible” homelessness – such as people “sofa-surfing” or living in emergency accommodation – and rough sleeping. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/27/universal-credit-fuels-homeless-crisis

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

Jobcentre Staff Told By DWP Not To Record Number Of People They Send To Foodbanks

A directive, issued by the DWP, tells staff they must not use the term “referral” or “voucher”, and should not keep any record of the number of people they “signpost” to foodbanks.  Critics have urged the Government to halt the practice as ministers have used the lack of records to dodge questions about the impact of welfare reforms. The revelation also indicates how charities are being relied upon to support the benefits system, but not to what extent. One major food bank charity says it hands out nearly 60,000 food parcels every year as a result of “signposting”. Read more on the Huff Post website.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/foodbanks-records-jobcentre-dwp_uk_5b61c1bde4b0b15aba9ebcc9?utm_hp_ref=uk-homepage

Ministers' Plan To Research Effect Of Policies On Food Bank Use

Ministers have secretly drawn up plans to investigate whether the government’s own policies are to blame for the sharp rise in the use of food banks. Two of the most senior officials at the DWP have been tasked with overseeing the study, according to a draft proposal, which is marked: “Official - Sensitive”.  The four-page document, dated June 2018, says a key objective of the proposed research is “to identify any areas of DWP policy or operational practice that may have contributed to a rise in demand for food bank services”. Some of those who will be asked to contribute to the research will be asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/01/revealed-ministers-plan-to-research-effect-of-policies-on-food-bank-use

Anti-Poverty Coalition Calls For Overhaul Of Universal Credit

Church leaders and food banks have called for an overhaul of universal credit to halt a surge in vulnerable claimants being pushed into destitution, hunger and debt when they move on to the benefit. End Hunger UK, a coalition of 73 poverty charities and faith groups, said excessive payment delays, common administrative errors and lack of support for claimants struggling to navigate the online-only system was driving up use of food banks. It called for a dramatic reduction in the time claimants must wait for a first payment from a minimum of five weeks to just two weeks, saying the long wait was financially crippling for claimants who had no savings to fall back on. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jul/11/anti-poverty-coalition-calls-for-overhaul-of-universal-credit

Committee Publishes 'Damning' New Universal Credit Evidence

Commons Select Committee Chair Frank Field MP calls evidence submitted to the Committee by Halton Housing Trust the "most damning" he has ever read on what he describes as DWP "maladministration."  The Trust has accumulated over £400,000 of arrears as a direct result of the rollout of Full Service Universal Credit. This means that just 18% of its tenants owe 55% of all its arrears. Over the last 12 months the number of referrals the Trust has made to local food banks has more than doubled. Those claimants who were offered Advance Payments were offered a New Claims Advance that had to be paid back within 6 months: the submission details the even bigger financial problems this caused for families. Read more on the Parliament website.

Universal Credit Behind Rising Rent Arrears And Food Bank Use

Universal Credit is pushing poor tenants deeper into rent arrears and sending food bank referrals soaring, according to a study by two councils that have been guinea pigs for the new regime. Southwark and Croydon councils in south London warned that without rapid changes the new system could have a devastating effect across the country as it is rolled out over the next few months, warning that arrears could reach “many hundreds of millions of pounds” and that tenants could face severe hardship. One food bank reported an increase in referrals of 97%. The report examined rent accounts for 775 social housing tenants in the two boroughs who had moved on to universal credit between August and October 2016, comparing them with 249 rent accounts held by tenants who moved on to the older housing benefit system during the same period. Download the report from the Smith Institute website.

Universal Credit Rollout Going Ahead As Planned

Work and pensions secretary David Gauke has suggested that the universal credit rollout will continue despite warnings from Conservative colleagues that the social security system overhaul should be delayed. A dozen Tory MPs have raised concerns with Gauke’s department that claimants were being forced to use food banks because of the mandatory six-week wait to receive money. Speaking at a Conservative conference fringe event, Gauke gave a clear hint there would be no delay in the rollout, suggesting people needed to be more aware that they could claim emergency advance payments instead of waiting for six weeks. Read more on the Observer website.

Growing Concerns Over Universal Credit Roll-Out

Submitting evidence to the Scottish Government consultation, CIH Scotland has welcomed the planned introduction of certain additional flexibilities for Universal Credit claimants in Scotland. These include giving applicants the option of having their payments made twice monthly and having payments of rent made direct to landlords. CIH Scotland says social landlords are being forced to commit substantial internal resources to support tenants with their claims while demand for financial support from alternative sources such as the Scottish Welfare Fund and referrals to food banks are also on the rise. CIH Scotland has also raised concerns that private landlords appear increasingly reluctant to let property to Universal Credit claimants. Read more on the CIH website.

MPs Launch Official Inquiry Into Universal Credit

MPs have launched an official inquiry into universal credit amid growing concerns that design flaws in the new benefits system are leaving thousands of low-income claimants facing eviction and reliant on food banks. The Commons work and pensions committee said it was compelled to launch a full investigation after mounting evidence that built-in payment delays and administrative blockages were creating severe problems for claimants and landlords. An investigation this month found widespread evidence that thousands of tenants on universal credit were running up rent arrears and debts because they could not manage the minimum 42-day wait for a first payment. Read more on the Parliament website.

Renewed Calls To Halt Universal Credit Pilots

Housing leaders said rollout of Universal Credit should be halted until 2019 to avoid the “significant financial hardship” experienced by those in the current pilot scheme. Delays in payments by the DWP are causing significant hardship and driving people to foodbanks or illegal loansharks, according to the National Federation of ALMOs.  Research by NFA of the scheme found people living in areas that were part of the pilot scheme were experiencing higher levels of hardship as a result. The NFA has raised its concerns with the DWP and called on ministers to rethink. Read more on 24housing.

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.

Corbyn Slams Universal Credit As ‘Institutional Barbarity’

The government is once again under pressure from outside about cuts being made to a key part of the welfare system.  Jeremy Corbyn focused on the cuts being made to Universal Credit, which he accused Theresa May of trying to “slip them through the back door.” The PM replied: “The introduction of universal credit was an important reform.” Corbyn hit back on the cuts, saying they are the same ones David Cameron tried to push through on tax credits. He also highlighted research that stated three million families will be £1,000 worse off from the cuts.  Corbyn highlighted research, which underlined the relationship between benefits sanctions and the rise in use of food banks, as well as one in five UC sanctions ending in a claimant becoming homeless. Read more on 24housing.

Benefit Sanctions Forcing People To Use Food Banks, Study Confirms

Benefit sanctions, whereby social security claimants have their payments stopped for at least a month as a punishment for breaching jobcentre rules, are a key driver of hunger and food bank use, according to a study carried out by Oxford University academics. The study, which mapped official sanctions data against food bank referral figures, concluded that a “robust link” existed between increases in the number of benefit sanctions handed out and rising numbers of adults receiving food parcels. It found that every three-month increase of 10 sanctions per 100,000 of the population over a four-year period was associated with around five more instances of adults being referred for charity food parcels, suggesting a “strong, dynamic relationship” between the two. Read more on the Guardian website.

Social Housing Tenants Forced To Cut Back On Food And Heating

A damning new survey of ‘Quids in!’ readers reveals ongoing financial hardship among social housing tenants, as money worries leave some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society “hungry and cold”. The survey provides a snapshot into how Tory austerity has impacted on social housing tenants  over the last five years. It found that among working age tenants not in full-time employment, 44% skipped meals over the last year, while more than half (51%) were forced to turn off heating despite feeling cold. The survey also shows how money worries can have a detrimental impact on health and well-being, with 58% of those surveyed feeling frightened, anxious or depressed. Read more on Welfare Weekly.

Universal Credit Delays Forcing People To Food Banks

Huge built-in delays in the processing of universal credit benefit claims have turned the government’s flagship welfare reform into a “recruiting sergeant for food banks”, according to Labour MP Frank Field. Field, the chair of the Commons work and pensions select committee, said the minimum six-week payment period faced by new UC claimants led to reliance on emergency food parcels, triggered debt and rent arrears, and caused health problems. Field has written to the work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, asking him to cut the lengthy and stressful wait for payments faced by penniless claimants. Read more on the Guardian website.

Over 25,000 Children in Sheffield Are Living In Poverty

A report to health bosses says almost one-third of children under 10 in the city are defined as living in poverty. It warns problems are likely to increase as a result of the city’s benefit income being cut by £169m through welfare reforms - with some single parent families set to lose over £2,000 per year. The report details the new strategy to tackle child poverty in Sheffield between now and 2018. It said there are now 16 food banks in Sheffield, while city schools have reported having to feed children who have not had breakfast. Read more on the Sheffield Star 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.

Welfare Sanctions Make Vulnerable Reliant On Food Banks

The YMCA, the UK’s oldest youth charity, has warned the government that its changes to welfare policy are driving vulnerable young people to become reliant on food bank handouts rather than preparing them for jobs. About 5,000 young people were referred by YMCAs to food banks last year, it said in a report, with benefit sanctions cited as the main reason for what it called a “significant increase” in the number of clients falling into food poverty. Read more on the Guardian website.