More people turning to food banks, data reveals

THE amount of emergency food supplies handed out in Birmingham is on the rise.

Exclusive data obtained by our sister paper the Birmingham Mail shows that 26,970 three-day emergency food supplies were provided to people in crisis in the city by Trussell Trust food banks in the last year. That compares with 25,472 the year before, and 20,050 in 2013-14.

The latest amount was enough to provide food for 16,706 adults and 10,264 children, although many of the same families will have relied on the service more than once.

Across the UK, the number of emergency supplies handed out reached 1.1 million for the year from April 2015 to March 2016.

The West Midlands was one of the most reliant regions in England on food banks, with 103,723 three-day supplies provided across the region. In comparison, the trust gave out just 48,967 emergency supplies in the East Midlands during the same period.

The rise in the use of emergency food supplies in Birmingham may be due, in part, to the number of food banks opening in the area. There were eight food banks operating in the city three years ago, compared to ten now.

Adrian Curtis, foodbank network director for the Trussell Trust, said: “One claim we sometimes hear is that level of need is solely driven by food banks opening, but the evidence suggests that this claim is not true.

“We believe some of this rise can be attributed to changes to the welfare system.

“It is also worth remembering Trussell Trust data only captures part of the problem because there are more than 400 independent food banks and many other emergency food projects across the UK, and the people they help are not included in these figures.”