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| Cuts and benefit changes driving up use of food banks, study finds | Cuts and benefit changes driving up use of food banks, study finds |
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| Cuts and changes to Britain’s increasingly threadbare social security system are the most common triggers of the acute personal financial crises that drive people to use food banks, according to research. | Cuts and changes to Britain’s increasingly threadbare social security system are the most common triggers of the acute personal financial crises that drive people to use food banks, according to research. |
| At least half of all food bank users are referred because they are waiting for benefits to be paid, because they have had benefits stopped for alleged breaches of jobcentre rules or because they have been hit by the bedroom tax or the removal of working tax credits, it finds. | At least half of all food bank users are referred because they are waiting for benefits to be paid, because they have had benefits stopped for alleged breaches of jobcentre rules or because they have been hit by the bedroom tax or the removal of working tax credits, it finds. |
| The study, the most extensive research of its kind yet carried out in the UK, directly challenges the government’s repeated insistence that there is no link between its controversial welfare reforms and the huge increases in charity food aid. | The study, the most extensive research of its kind yet carried out in the UK, directly challenges the government’s repeated insistence that there is no link between its controversial welfare reforms and the huge increases in charity food aid. |
| The study, commissioned by the Church Of England, the Trussell Trust food bank network, Oxfam and Child Poverty Action Group, calls for urgent changes to the “complicated, remote and at times intimidating” social security system to make it more responsive to the millions who rely on it. It warns the government against reliance on charity food to fix holes in the welfare state. | The study, commissioned by the Church Of England, the Trussell Trust food bank network, Oxfam and Child Poverty Action Group, calls for urgent changes to the “complicated, remote and at times intimidating” social security system to make it more responsive to the millions who rely on it. It warns the government against reliance on charity food to fix holes in the welfare state. |
| “The promise of a social security safety net that is there to protect people at times of crisis is something that can, and must be, preserved and protected. Food banks, whilst providing a vital and welcoming lifeline to many, should not become a readily accepted part of that formal provision,“ the study says. | “The promise of a social security safety net that is there to protect people at times of crisis is something that can, and must be, preserved and protected. Food banks, whilst providing a vital and welcoming lifeline to many, should not become a readily accepted part of that formal provision,“ the study says. |
| There are no official statistics on the use of food banks but the most robust source, collected by the Trussell Trust, which runs more than 400 food banks in the UK, found that 913,138 people were given food parcels by its volunteers in 2013-14, almost a threefold increase on the previous year, and likely to be a fraction of the total numbers of people experiencing food insecurity. | There are no official statistics on the use of food banks but the most robust source, collected by the Trussell Trust, which runs more than 400 food banks in the UK, found that 913,138 people were given food parcels by its volunteers in 2013-14, almost a threefold increase on the previous year, and likely to be a fraction of the total numbers of people experiencing food insecurity. |
| The research, published on Wednesday, which examined why people were referred to food banks, combined 40 in-depth interviews with clients at seven UK food banks, analysis of data collected on 900 clients at three of those food banks and a caseload of 178 clients at another. | The research, published on Wednesday, which examined why people were referred to food banks, combined 40 in-depth interviews with clients at seven UK food banks, analysis of data collected on 900 clients at three of those food banks and a caseload of 178 clients at another. |
| It accepts that its research, while wide-ranging, cannot prove definitively why people use food banks or how many use them, but argues that it provides an initial indicator of the scale and prevalence of issues leading people to accept charity food and calls on ministers to commission more authoritative data on food insecurity, as happens in the US and Canada. | It accepts that its research, while wide-ranging, cannot prove definitively why people use food banks or how many use them, but argues that it provides an initial indicator of the scale and prevalence of issues leading people to accept charity food and calls on ministers to commission more authoritative data on food insecurity, as happens in the US and Canada. |
| The government has struggled to explain why food bank use has risen, though has denied welfare cuts are a factor. Lord Freud, the welfare minister, notoriously insisted that demand for food had risen because it was free, while the former education secretary Michael Gove suggested people turned to food aid because they had poor financial management skills. | The government has struggled to explain why food bank use has risen, though has denied welfare cuts are a factor. Lord Freud, the welfare minister, notoriously insisted that demand for food had risen because it was free, while the former education secretary Michael Gove suggested people turned to food aid because they had poor financial management skills. |
| However, the study finds that in most cases people used food banks because they were tipped into financial crisis by events that were outside their control and difficult or impossible to reverse, such as benefit cuts and delays, bereavement or job loss. Most people said they used food banks as a desperate and shaming last resort. | However, the study finds that in most cases people used food banks because they were tipped into financial crisis by events that were outside their control and difficult or impossible to reverse, such as benefit cuts and delays, bereavement or job loss. Most people said they used food banks as a desperate and shaming last resort. |
| Almost a third of food bank users interviewed for the study who had experienced problems with the benefits system said they had been “sanctioned” by social security officials and left penniless for weeks on end, while a further third were left unable to put food on the table because of lengthy delays in benefit payments. | Almost a third of food bank users interviewed for the study who had experienced problems with the benefits system said they had been “sanctioned” by social security officials and left penniless for weeks on end, while a further third were left unable to put food on the table because of lengthy delays in benefit payments. |
| The report says the current sanctions policy is “causing hardship and hunger”. | The report says the current sanctions policy is “causing hardship and hunger”. |
| The government has self-imposed targets for processing benefit claims within 16 working days. However, the report says this period is too long a wait without income for vulnerable people, and many claimants wait longer than this. There are concerns that the five-week delay before jobless people can sign on under a future universal credit system will cause hardship. | The government has self-imposed targets for processing benefit claims within 16 working days. However, the report says this period is too long a wait without income for vulnerable people, and many claimants wait longer than this. There are concerns that the five-week delay before jobless people can sign on under a future universal credit system will cause hardship. |
| Formal state “safety net” crisis support available to people who are left without income because of bureaucratic delays in the processing of benefits was often inadequate or non-existent, the study finds. As a result, many people entitled to state help were forced to sell possessions, go without food, or take out expensive credit to buy essentials such as food and rent. | Formal state “safety net” crisis support available to people who are left without income because of bureaucratic delays in the processing of benefits was often inadequate or non-existent, the study finds. As a result, many people entitled to state help were forced to sell possessions, go without food, or take out expensive credit to buy essentials such as food and rent. |
| Many people who used food banks lived in, or were close to, poverty and were attempting to cope with the “ongoing daily grind of living without sufficient income to make ends meet each month”. Many worked, but in jobs that were low paid and insecure. Often they were also coping with mental and physical ill health and bereavement. | Many people who used food banks lived in, or were close to, poverty and were attempting to cope with the “ongoing daily grind of living without sufficient income to make ends meet each month”. Many worked, but in jobs that were low paid and insecure. Often they were also coping with mental and physical ill health and bereavement. |
| Alison Garnham, the chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Food banks have boomed not because they‘re an easy option but because people haven’t got money to eat – often because of problems with claiming and the payment of benefits. | Alison Garnham, the chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Food banks have boomed not because they‘re an easy option but because people haven’t got money to eat – often because of problems with claiming and the payment of benefits. |
| “A delay in a benefits decision or a period pending a review can force hunger and humiliation on families, leaving them no option but the food bank. Rather than protecting these families from poverty at the time when they most need help, the system leaves them with almost nothing to live on.” | “A delay in a benefits decision or a period pending a review can force hunger and humiliation on families, leaving them no option but the food bank. Rather than protecting these families from poverty at the time when they most need help, the system leaves them with almost nothing to live on.” |
| David McAuley, the chief executive of the Trussell Trust said: “This new evidence brings into sharp focus the uncomfortable reality of what happens when a ‘life shock’ or benefit problem hits those on low incomes: parents go hungry, stress and anxiety increase and the issue can all too quickly escalate into crippling debt, housing problems and illness.” | David McAuley, the chief executive of the Trussell Trust said: “This new evidence brings into sharp focus the uncomfortable reality of what happens when a ‘life shock’ or benefit problem hits those on low incomes: parents go hungry, stress and anxiety increase and the issue can all too quickly escalate into crippling debt, housing problems and illness.” |
| The Department for Work and Pensions attacked the report, claiming the research was inclusive: “The report itself concludes it can’t ‘prove anything’ – it uses self-selecting data and recognises there are complex underlying issues. | The Department for Work and Pensions attacked the report, claiming the research was inclusive: “The report itself concludes it can’t ‘prove anything’ – it uses self-selecting data and recognises there are complex underlying issues. |
| “We have a strong safety net in place, spending £94bn a year on working age benefits, and we provide a wide range of advice and assistance for anyone in need of additional support.” | “We have a strong safety net in place, spending £94bn a year on working age benefits, and we provide a wide range of advice and assistance for anyone in need of additional support.” |
| The study will feed into the all-party parliamentary group inquiry into hunger and food poverty, chaired by Labour MP Frank Field, which is expected to report before Christmas. | The study will feed into the all-party parliamentary group inquiry into hunger and food poverty, chaired by Labour MP Frank Field, which is expected to report before Christmas. |
| The report was welcomed by Conservative Jeremy Lefroy, MP for Stafford, who hosted the launch of the report at the House of Commons. He said it was “an important report” that “chimed with my experience as an MP in my surgery” He added: “There is no doubt from this report that there are certain elements of welfare that make things more difficult, without doubt. These are not the headline things like benefit cap, but things like sanctions, the smaller things that go below the radar where people cannot get any kind of help.” | |
| The Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun said he was disappointed by the DWP’s dismissal of the report, which he described as “an appeal to people of goodwill” to address an inportant social issue. He added: “ I think they (the DWP) possibly need to read the report”. | |
| David McAuley, chief executive of Trussell Trust, said he was immensely frustrated that the DWP had not turned up to the report launch. Junior DWP minister Steve Webb had been due to attend the launch, but pulled out on Tuesday night for unspecified reasons. McAuley said: “They do not want to hear the story”. |