UK‘ needs a Minister for foodbanks’

MPs want a Minister for Hunger to tackle soaring foodbank demand.

They are urging Theresa May to act after it was revealed 19% of under-15s live with an adult who struggles to put food on the table.

The Environmental Audit Committee’s Hunger, Malnutrition and Food Insecurity in the UK report blasts “significant and growing” food insecurity.

It says the UK is “among the worst in Europe, especially for children”.

The report adds: “The Government has failed to recognise and respond to these issues.” The report blames “rising living costs

DEMAND Mary Creagh and stagnating wages”. Groups described as particularly vulnerable include the unemployed and the quarter of families with the lowest incomes. Others singled out are people with disabilities or illnesses, families with children, and single parents. And in a fresh blow to the Government’s welfare overhaul, it claims: “Surges in demand for food aid have been linked to Universal Credit, due to waiting times, delays in payments, debt and loan repayments, and benefit sanctions.”

Committee chair, Labour MP Mary Creagh, said: “More children are growing up in homes where parents don’t have enough money to put food on the table.

“The combination of high living costs, stagnating wages and often, the rollout of Universal Credit and the wider benefits system, means that levels of hunger in Britain are some of the highest across Europe.

“We found nearly one in five children under 15 live in a food insecure home – a scandal which cannot be allowed to continue.”