There's been a jump in people seeking emergency food provision in areas where controversial benefit has been rolled out
Universal Credit (UC) has been blamed for an increase in in people needing help from foodbanks.
Emergency food provider the Trussell Trust says there has been a jump in people seeking emergency food provision in areas where UC has been rolled out.
That includes Inverclyde in Scotland, which covers Greenock and Port Glasgow.
In this area, there has been a huge 162% rise in people seeking help in just six months – a figure which correlates with the introduction of UC.
UC, which has been unevenly implemented across the UK, combines several benefits in one, bit has been widely criticised because of delays in payments – sometimes up to six weeks – which have pushed already desperate people beyond the brink.
On a UK basis, The Trussell Trust’s foodbank network provided 658,048 emergency supplies to people in crisis between April and September 2018, a 13% increase on the same period in 2017.
The charity says if the five week minimum wait for a first Universal Credit payment is not reduced, the only way to prevent even more people being forced to foodbanks this winter is to pause the UC programme.
The inability of benefit levels to cover essential living costs and issues with payments remain the most common reasons for referral to a foodbank.
UC is not the only benefit people at foodbanks are experiencing problems with, but the new system is increasingly driving referrals due to benefit delays, which include waiting for a first payment or having problems with a new claim.
Foodbanks typically receive more referrals for emergency support during the second half of the financial year, raising concerns that foodbank use this winter will rise further, as hardship experienced annually during the colder months is compounded by more people left waiting at least five weeks for benefit payments.
Emma Revie, chief executive of The Trussell Trust, said:“We created systems like our National Health Service, fire service and benefits system because we’re a country that believes in protecting each other. Our benefits system is supposed to anchor any of us from being swept into poverty, but if Universal Credit is to do that, we need to see urgent changes.
“It’s not right that people are being forced to use foodbanks after weeks of waiting for Universal Credit payments. The changes announced in last week’s Budget are a good start – but they won’t solve all of the problems foodbanks see, and they won’t help people making new claims this winter.
“We’re seeing soaring levels of need at foodbanks. The time to act is now. If the five week wait isn’t reduced, the only way to stop even more people being forced to foodbanks this winter will be to pause all new claims to Universal Credit, until funding is in place to reduce the five week wait. Foodbanks cannot continue to pick up the pieces – we have to make sure our benefits system can protect people from hunger.”
A national petition calling on the Government to fix Universal Credit from the End Hunger UK campaign, backed by The Trussell Trust and a range of charities and faith groups is being delivered to Downing Street on Wednesday (7 November).
The Department for Work and Pensions says that reasons for foodbank use are “complex” and are not solely down to UC, and, under pressure from campaigners and charities, work and pensions secretary Esther McVey said this week that claimants will now be given more time to switch to the new benefit under changes to a “managed migration” programme.
