FOODBANK use in Scotland has reached record levels according to a charity which provided more than 145,000 emergency food parcels to people in crisis in 2016-7 - the equivalent of the population of Dundee and a nine per cent increase on the previous year.
The findings came as a report by the Trussell Trust claimed the roll out of Universal Credit (UC) was forcing significant numbers of people to foodbanks after they experienced lengthy waits for the new benefit. In a survey, managers at more than half of the Trust’s network of 52 Scottish foodbanks said UC was a major issue. The Early Warnings report said foodbanks in areas where the benefit has been fully rolled out have seen an above average increase in referrals. In East Lothian where ‘full service’ UC was introduced in Musselburgh in May 2016, referrals to foodbanks have risen by 37 per cent.
Claimans of UC face an automatic wait before they can claim, and then a subsequent wait before they receive payments, totalling a minimum of six weeks for new claims. The Trussell Trust says these delays can leave people in debt, for facing rent arrears and eviction while some suffer mental health issues.
Foodbanks provided three day emergency food supplies to 145,865 people in the last year, 47,955 of those being to children. The figures contributed to a total of 1,182,954 referrals to foodbanks across the UK, exceeding one million for the third successive year.
All those using the Trussell Trust’s foodbanks are referred by social work, health visitors, charities or other professionals. The biggest reason for referrals to a Scottish foodbank is now low income, accounting for a quarter of all referrals, the charity said. Problems with benefit payments accounted for 42 per cent of all those using foodbanks.
The Trussell Trust is calling for general and local election candidates to prioritise hunger and food poverty during the campaigns, and says it has been having ‘positive engagement” with the Department for Work and Pensions. It is demanding more flexibility in the administration of UC and a reduction in the waiting periods before payments can be made to those who qualify.
Ewan Gurr, Scotland Network Manager for the Trussell Trust, said: “The discovery that foodbanks in Scotland gave out enough emergency food to feed the entire population of Dundee for three days is deeply worrying and the reasons underpinning this are just as concerning.”
He said an apparent reduction in food bank use in Scotland in nine council areas six months ago had not been sustained. “It is clear that a cold Christmas, the rollout of Universal Credit and the ever-increasing pressure on the pockets of low income individuals and families is yielding bitter outcomes.”
“A record 12-month inflation rate of 2.3 per cent and benefit delays ... are leaving men, women and children up and down the country sitting at the dinner table with no food in front of them.”
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