Charity predicts greater demand for food aid

The head of a Christian charity running hundreds of food banks across the UK still wants to discuss the economic crisis with the Government, despite being accused of “scaremongering” by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, writes Paul Wilkinson.

Before Christmas Mr Duncan Smith refused to meet officials from the Salisbury-based Trussell Trust which believes government policy is making the situation worse. He criticised the charity for its “political messaging”.

The trust claims that more than 500,000 people, many of them children, have received emergency food from the charity since April. It is opening new banks at a rate of two or three a week. Chris Mould, its executive chairman, told The Tablet this week: “We are not scaremongering, we are just trying to reflect what we see.”

He said that the trust had increased the number of food banks from 100 five years ago to more than 400 today. Earlier this year he wrote to Mr Duncan Smith saying that since April the charity had seen “an alarming change” in the type of person needing emergency food supplies and had identified parts of the country where Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Job Centres dealing with claimants were “absolutely getting it wrong”.

But after months of what Mr Mould describes as delay and denial, the charity’s request for a meeting with the Secretary of State was rejected.

“Obviously we cannot insist,” he said, “but we still want to talk. The information is there for us to share.”

Mr Mould said that despite the first signs of economic recovery in 2013 he did not expect any reduction in his charity’s workload in 2014. “We have to be very realistic about figures indicating that the economy is growing,” he said.

“It is, but at less than 1 per cent, while inflation, which is currently at 2.1 per cent, is likely to go up with the energy price rises. That means people are facing price rises two or three times any increase in their income and those reliant on the welfare system will have benefit rises capped at 1 per cent, so the ability to buy what they need is being eroded.”