West Cumbria facing poverty crisis with highest demand for foodbanks ever reported

The shock figures have been blamed on the Government’s controversial Universal Credit Scheme, with the leader of Allerdale council demanding urgent action to tackle homelessness in particular.

Meanwhile, benefit delays or changes are also responsible for around a third of food bank usage according to figures provided by the North Lakes Foodbank.

And there appears to be no end in sight, with the foodbank expecting a 10 per cent increase in demand this year.

The last time the charity experienced a spike like this was in 2013 following the launch of the controversial Bedroom Tax.

Cumbria has also been hit by the second consecutive hike in unemployment figures, with the number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance or Universal Credit rising from 5,940 to 5,855 according to the Office of National Statistics.

Council leader Alan Smith’s motion, which is set to be discussed next week at Wednesday’s full council meeting, was sparked by news that the authority dealt with more than 362 homelessness cases in 2018/19.

His motion said: “Councillors express their concern for the recent rise in homelessness cases in the borough.

“This Council alone has dealt with 362 cases in 2018/19 which is a 40 per cent increase over the year before, with still three months of the year to go.

“There are many reasons why people become homeless - often very personal ones.

“However, Allerdale council has noticed the negative impact of the government’s reform of benefits in Universal Credit (UC), with people losing tenancies and landlords unwilling to take on Universal Credit tenants, due to delays in payments.

“Officers also find the Universal Credit system, through the Job Centre, has made it harder to work with case officers to help those facing homelessness.

“Councillors also believe that homelessness cases have also increased due to cuts to social services as a result of the government’s austerity measures, meaning more people are not receiving the support they need.

“Therefore this Council calls on the government to make further reforms to Universal Credit so that it no longer contributes to people facing losing their home. This Council also calls on the government to reverse the devastating cuts in social services so that the most vulnerable people in our communities receive the help they need”.

Between January 1 and December 31 last year, the foodbank gave out 3,200 food parcels of which 536 were attributed to delays in benefit payment while a further 434 were down to benefit changes.

This means that almost a third of food bank claims have been attributed to issues surrounding the roll-out of Universal Credit.

The foodbank helped more than 5,600 people last year of which 1,600 are children.

For the last quarter between October 1 to December 31 2017, the foodbank handed out 750 food parcels, but over the same period last year they distributed 920 food parcels.

Adrian Cozens, project manager for the North Lakes Foodbank, said he was very grateful to all the people who continue to donate food.

He also revealed that big-hearted Cumbrians’ generosity is continuing to keep pace with the growing demand for their services.

He added: “This is the community supporting the community. These are the people you just walk past in the street.”