Universal Credit reform vital as malnutrition hits Hackney’s poorest residents

Tanya, Head of Services talking with visitors queuing outside one of Hackney Foodbank’s Food Distribution Centre

“Universal Credit falls well short of meeting people’s basic needs and here in Hackney many are malnourished.”

That’s the view of Hackney Foodbank’s CEO Pat Fitzsimons, as the Trussell Trust calls on the Government to overhaul the benefits system.

The Trussell Trust is campaigning for the Government to increase Universal Credit from £85 per week to at least £120 a week to address the significant gap between the level of support people receive and their living costs.   

Pat added: “As an agency at the front line of food poverty, we see daily how Britain’s benefits system is failing its most vulnerable residents. In Hackney, as in other parts of London, the costs of living are far higher than in other parts of the UK. Many of the people we support are working but earning a low income; others are unable to work due to illness or a disability.

“Universal Credit was designed to cover their essential needs – food, bills, travel, toiletries and clothing but, with inflation hitting the cost of many of these essentials and rising energy costs, it’s nowhere near enough.  The result is that in one of the world’s richest countries, people are malnourished due to food poverty. It’s left to agencies like us to pick up the pieces.”

Demand for Hackney Foodbank is increasing by an average of seven per cent per week – with a rising number of working people in financial crisis. The charity recently launched an emergency appeal to raise £100,000 in a bid to meet “unprecedented demand.”

In fact, changes recently imposed by the Department for Work and Pensions have reduced the amount of Universal Credit many households receive. From January, single people in employment are only eligible for Universal Credit if they earn less than £617 per month (that figure used to be £494). For couples, the threshold has risen from £782 to £988.

According to data from the Trussell Trust, more than half of the people who receive help from food banks have deductions taken from their Universal Credit before it arrives. This could be for repayment of hardship loans or advanced payments or due to sanctions by the Jobcentre.

The campaign, launched in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, calls for the Government to amend the law to ensure the standard Universal Credit allowance at least covers peoples’ essentials.  They suggest £120 per week for a single adult and £200 per week for a couple.

It would, they say, cost the Government an extra £20 billion per year, preventing around 1.3 million people from enduring ‘very deep poverty.’

Hackney Foodbank currently gives out more than 500 food parcels a week and recently launched a Friday night food bank to cater for the large numbers of working poor. They’re part of a national network of food banks supported by the Trussell Trust.

Editor’s Notes

Hackney Foodbank recently marked its 10th anniversary. They are part of a national network of food banks supported by the Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger in the UK.

They’re currently giving out around 500 food parcels per week (each parcel can contain enough food for a family for a few days). They operate from a warehouse in Hoxton (The Florence Bennett Centre) and have distribution points across Hackney.

 For further information or to arrange an interview with Pat Fitzsimons, please contact Jenna Fansa on 07812 245118.