Council declare ‘poverty emergency’ in borough

FOOD banks in Sefton are being visited by people working low-income jobs more than anyone else.

In the past five years, food bank use has increased by 75 per cent.

Southport Labour councillor, Janis Blackburne, says Covid has deepened inequalities, hitting the poor and most vulnerable the hardest.

At Sefton’s budget meeting earlier this month, Cllr Blackburne said: “A previous Prime Minister told us that ‘work is the best route out of poverty.’

“That obviously was not true then and even less true now.

“In Sefton as a whole, the type of crisis recorded for use of food bank had ‘low income’ as the highest – people are working and still need to use a food bank.”

Since the start of 2021, the number of people applying for Sefton’s

Emergency Limited Assistance Scheme (ELAS) – a scheme to support residents who are experiencing severe hardship, a disaster or emergency – has almost doubled.

Cllr Blackburne said in one Bootle ward alone, more than 1,400 food bank vouchers were given out during the first eight months of lockdown.

More than half of those in Sefton who received food vouchers over the course of the last year work low income jobs.

During the budget meeting, councillors voted to declare a poverty emergency in Sefton.

Cllr Sean Halsall said: “The pandemic has highlighted more than ever the huge inequalities in wealth in both our country and the borough of Sefton.

“People, while in work, struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table.

“It is vital as a local authority we address poverty – it is clear the cavalry isn’t going to come riding from Westminster – so we must do all we can to fight it here.”

The Trussell Trust is the UK’s largest food bank network.

The trust’s chief executive, Emma Revie, said: “We welcome the government’s decision to put in place the Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income

Support Scheme.

“But the unparalleled speed and scale of the increase in people needing food banks shows these interventions don’t offer enough protection to everyone. Instead, they’ve shone a light on how fragile people’s safety nets are.

“Our government could make a real difference to the lives of people needlessly swept into poverty throughout this crisis.”