Increase child benefit to battle food crisis
MSP’s appeal over surge in cases
Child benefit should be boosted to help keep families out of foodbanks, MSP Neil Bibby insists.
The politician wants to increase handouts by a fiver to support those struggling most.
He called for a ministers to increase payments after charity bosses revealed a surge in visitors needing emergency grocery parcels.
The Trussell Trust runs foodbanks across the UK and told how 170,000 packs were given out in the last year.
Mr Bibby warned reductions in benefits were hammering families with children.
He said: “These figures are absolutely despicable, and they should shame the Tory and SNP Government’s into action.
“Over 29,000 three- day emergency food parcels were distributed by the Trussell Trust in the West Scotland Region last year.
“This amounts to nearly 20 per cent of the total number of parcels distributed by the charity in the whole of Scotland.
“If that wasn’t shocking enough, nearly 9,000 of those food parcels went to children in our region.
“And the this only gives us an indication of the scale of foodbank use in society today, as the Trussell Trust only account for two-thirds of all foodbanks in the UK.
“There are also hundreds of independent food aid providers, so the total number of emergency food parcels distributed across the UK will unfortunately be higher.”
Renfrewshire Foodbank was visited by more people than ever before in the last 12 months.
The Trussell Trust service revealed it gave out close to 9,000 three-day food parcels to locals in crisis between April last year and March.
Visits were up a fifth, with 1,466 more emergency packs given out compared to the year before.
Almost 2,500 bundles went to starving children.
Across the UK, the cause gave out almost 1.5 million parcels.
Bosses say the struggling families are seeking help due to low income, problems with benefit payments, insecure work and a loss of funding to charities.
Mr Bibby added: “Rather than relying on the generosity of others and the volunteers who work in foodbanks, Westminster should end its austerity programme.
“Scottish Labour wants to deliver a £5 a week increase to Child Benefit, which would lift 30,000 children out of poverty.
“Given the number of children relying on foodbanks in West Scotland, I expect MSPs representing the region from other parties to do the same.”
The Department for Work and Pensions insists the reasons families use foodbanks are “complex” and £ 90billion is being spent each year to combat deprivation.
Ministers maintain it is “wrong” to link a rise to “any one cause” and say a million people have been lifted out of deprivation since 2010.
More than 97 tonnes of food was donated to Renfrewshire Foodbank in the last 12 months.
For more information on how to access help, visit www. renfrewshire.foodbank.org.uk