Report Reveals Food Bank Use Up by a Third
Graeme has criticised the silence on the issue of child poverty from those candidates vying to be the next Tory leader and Prime Minister.
It comes as a new report from Citizens Advice Scotland on Universal Credit underlines the struggles households across Scotland are currently facing.
The report shows that the need for food banks has grown by almost a third (31%) since September 2021, and presses for a number of key actions from Westminster in response.
It calls for the immediate uprating of Universal Credit and all legacy benefits, suspension of sanctions, scrapping of the benefit cap and the two-child limit, a pause on the collection of all DWP and HMRC debts, and the conversion of all Advance Payments at the beginning of UC claims into non-repayable assessment period grants.
Whilst recent research has shown that Scottish Government efforts – such as the uprating of devolved benefits and introduction of the Scottish Child Payment – are making a difference to those struggling, progress is undermined by the impacts of Tory austerity and a leadership contest ignoring the cost-of-living crisis.
Record splash: demand for foodbanks soars while Tory leadership candidates promise tax cuts pic.twitter.com/gkNF1GcmNq
— Paul Hutcheon (@paulhutcheon) July 14, 2022
– Graeme
That we are seeing such an increase in foodbank use in a place as wealthy as the UK is utterly shameful.
As we witness the spectacle of the Tories selecting another party leader and UK Prime Minister to be forced upon Scotland, the silence on issues of cost-of-living and poverty is deafening.
Prices continue to rise while Westminster fails to take any meaningful action to tackle the crisis – with the Scottish Government doing what it can within its limited powers to support families and households here in Angus and across the country.
Scotland’s efforts are always fighting against the tide of Westminster policies exacerbating the problems, though – we need our future in our own hands, not a change of Prime Minister.
Today we've published a new report showing the extent of the financial crisis facing people on Universal Credit in Scotland.
Our data reveals that advice on foodbanks is up by 31% since the £20-a-week cut to UC last year. 👇https://t.co/65olBCb650— Citizens Advice Scotland (@CitAdviceScot) July 14, 2022
The report can be read in full here:
Citizens Advice Scotland Report
