Why Foodbanks? (Let's waste some money).

[nukecad]

The Government/DWP is to spend £217,000 on a study researching why reliance on foodbanks is on the increase.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...-food-bank-use

Many organisations, including the foodbanks themselves, have been telling them why, for free, for the last few years.

It's quite simple- Welfare benefit cuts, and problems with Universal Credit.

But I guess it's not 'official' unless they have wasted a load of money on their own report.
Plus of course they can now spend another year saying "we're looking into it" instead of doing anything about it.

[beau]

Spending all that money to confirm common knowledge. That money could be put to much better use.

[Lighttouch]

Not many people have a 'rainy day fund' so if they are pushed into Unreal Credit and don't know how to get online they maybe without money for 5 or 6 weeks. UC was geared up for 'digital claimants'that speeded up processing their claim.

None digital claimant applications take longer to process and get paid. I bet food banks became more popular after UC was launched.

[Shelob]

The Government/DWP is to spend £217,000 on a study researching why reliance on foodbanks is on the increase.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...-food-bank-use

Many organisations, including the foodbanks themselves, have been telling them why, for free, for the last few years.

It's quite simple- Welfare benefit cuts, and problems with Universal Credit.

But I guess it's not 'official' unless they have wasted a load of money on their own report.
Plus of course they can now spend another year saying "we're looking into it" instead of doing anything about it.

Well if they had kept a record of this, they wouldn’t need to have spent this money!!!

[spencer69]

All the above is bang on and we know it...problem is DWP & Tories deny it and not willing to accept any other results. The report they are considering may not have been prepared or written yet but I guarantee that they already have the wording of their conclusion to include...'there is no causal link...etc etc etc...stil be interesting to read their excuses though!

[nukecad]

I bet food banks became more popular after UC was launched.

You'd win, it's well documented by the foodbanks and the welfare advice organisations.

The removal of DWP 'Crisis Loans' was another major factor. As was the introduction of benefit sanctions.

In fact if the Gov. bothered to ask then the foodbanks could give them exact statistics, because the reason for referal is noted on the vouchers.
https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-he...food-vouchers/

Let me take a stab at one likely finding of this Government/DWP study - "Scroungers like a freebie".
(Of course they'll use fancier language).

Then there are the old chesnuts, trotted out in the last 'study' in 2014:
"The Trussell Trust itself says it is opening three new food banks every week, so it's not surprising more people are using them."
"Increasing awareness of the existence of food banks may well be a factor in explaining recent growth in usage."
In other words they think that the demeaning situation of using a foodbank is a choice not a need. (Scroungers again).

[Bekki2017]

so where do I sign up to do this independent study for them for £217,000? sounds ideal especially as all the works already been done for me!

More seriously it was about 2012 wasn't it when they first started being more needed? And then rapidly grew. There was the loss of the independent living fund and other funding as well as David Cameron decided the big society would sort these issues out.

As you all are aware I'm somewhere very rural and there are two in my county, there's another opening because they cannot keep up with demand, a major problem here is closure of jobcentres (along with everything else) and down grading of the one remaining to a jobcentre (not jobcentre plus) so they cannot check any identity documents that must be done a three hour round trip away (might be more than that), if you can't drive it's two hours by train each way plus a taxi. Just to get your claim going. Can't make the journey? I guess you can't claim (it's not come up yet but we go live for UC next month, or perhaps it was this month).

[DianneT]

It's not just people that are being migrated to UC that are being made to wait 5/6 weeks for their benefits. Hubby and I are waiting for Pension Credit to be sorted, 5 weeks and counting now. Also a cock up with the frequency of his state pension, despite a letter saying we would be paid fortnightly and the amounts given and when we would be paid somehow he got one week pension then nothing, called them and they said he was on monthly payments, although then they said the bank account did not match (funny how one weeks money went in). Anyway.. had to wait the month as they stated there was nothing they could do.
Luckily we have been OK, I hate to think what some folks are going through.

[Slowdriver]

Anything like this boils my piss

If the money went on research fine by me

But how much of it goes on unnecessary middle managers, tea and biscuits, expenses etc

I’m sure there was a focus group fully funded with travel expenses and free lunch for all purely to come up with the idea in the first place

Like when home care costs £50 an hour but the carer gets £7.50. Obviously some goes on insurance and welfare for the carer but I bet middle management and admin leech at least half of it