Foodbank demand across West Cumbria looks set to rise to its highest level ever with benefit changes blamed for the escalating crisis.

The figures from the North Lakes Foodbank do not identify how many of the figures are linked to the Government’s troubled Universal Credit scheme.

But Independent leader and Allerdale councillor Bill Finlay blamed the roll out of the Government’s controversial flagship welfare programme for the “worrying” trend.

The scheme has been widely criticised for increasing poverty and food bank usage nationwide, prompting the Chancellor Philip Hammond to announce he would plough over £1bn into the system.

Out of the food bank vouchers issued across Allerdale and Copeland since the beginning of April, almost half have been as a result of benefit changes or delay – 904 out of 1,763.

The last time the North Lakes Foodbank experienced a spike like this was in 2013 following the launch of the controversial Bedroom Tax when the demand for services grew rapidly and they were feeding almost 6,000 people a year across Allerdale and Copeland.

This figure had been falling slightly, with last year’s total coming in at around 5,500.

But this financial year, the charity has so far fed 3,460 people and if the uptake continues as projected, the foodbank set to feed almost 7,000 this year – pointing to 2018/19 being their year of highest demand.

Linda McDonald, Assistant Project Manager for the North Lakes Foodbank, said: “The majority of our referrals are down to benefit changes and delays – around 50 per cent.

“If wasn’t for our volunteers we would be unable to meet what appears to be an increasing demand – and we are very grateful to the people who donate food and finances.”

In Allerdale, council figures show that foodbank usage across the borough was an “increasing trend” between 2011 and 2016 with a peak in 2013.

Figures had reduced slightly in 2017 but now look set to rise again with the full roll out of Universal Credit blamed for the crisis.

Last year, the highest number of foodbank vouchers were issued in St Michaels, Moss Bay and Moorclose in Workington, and Netherhall in Maryport.

Figures provided by the North Lakes Foodbank indicate that a common underlying cause of people resorting to foodbanks across the borough in Allerdale and Copeland is linked to the benefit system.

Delays to receiving benefits or changes to benefits accounted for 27 per cent and 21 per cent of crises faced in 2017 respectively.

And in 26 per cent of cases, low income was cited as a factor.

Councillors this week received a report at a meeting this week from the the Citizen’s Advice Bureau setting out poverty figures from across Copeland, including the surge in foodbank usage.

David Southward, county councillor for Egremont and cabinet member for economic development, said: “It is lamentable that we find ourselves face these problems despite being the fifth or sixth richest country in the world.”

The shock figures comer days after the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that almost a quarter of children in Copeland are living in poverty.

Shelley Hewitson of Copeland CAB said that grants provided by the county council allowed the organisation to pay for specialist workers and to contribute to volunteer costs.

Copeland CAB, which now receives referrals from the Royal British Legion, has been working with the food bank to tackle issues including ‘holiday hunger’ – a phenomenon that affects large families during the school holidays.

Ms Hewitson said: “Large families sometimes have to find an extra five meals per day which is something they couldn’t do [on their own], so we started to look at ways we could help. But a couple of families phone up – the provision was there at the food bank but they weren’t able to access it.

“One of the barriers was transport. They would have to get to Workington or Whitehaven to pick up their food.”

The meeting heard that some families without access to a car would have had to travel to the foodbank on the bus with up to five children in tow.

But it was not practical to carry bags full of shopping, including heavy tins, on public transport.

Responding to the problem, CAB volunteers now collect and distribute the food.

The Distington Community Centre is one of the successful drop off and collection points used by around 50 people.

Analysing the high figures for his own ward of Aspatria, Bill Finlay, leader of the Allerdale Independents, described the trend was “worrying”.

He said: “Aspatria being the most urban of the wards is clearly the worst impacted by the switch to Universal Credits, but interestingly Holme ward looks more ‘urban’ than ‘rural’ when compared to the other rural wards.

“Also of note is that the total of recipients in the first 7.5 months of 2018 now equals the total for the whole of 2017/18. Of perhaps greater concern is that children in receipt of ‘food aid’ in 2017/18 stood at approximately half the level of adults, but in 2018 the total of children in need is almost the same as for adults.

“If either or both of these factors – general growth plus a marked growth of children in need – represent trends this is truly worrying, as the development of Food Banks was largely explained in terms of the roll-out of Universal Credits, which was expected to create ‘cash-flow’ problems as households transferred from the old to new systems during roll-out, but be generally more generous and sustainable once the transfer had taken place.

The trends identified suggest that the negative impact of the introduction of Universal Credits is either not inherently time-limited, or that many households in the wider Aspatria area are having to frequently adjust their claims e.g. due to zero-hours contracts/casual work, and are therefore having their credits repeatedly suspended while benefit entitlements are reassessed.

There are food banks in Carlisle, Penrith, Alston, Appleby, Barrow, Millom, Kendal, Windermere, Wigton, Workington, Whitehaven, Maryport, Egremont and Cockermouth.

Foodbank usage

Vouchers fulfilled/number of people helped across Allerdale and Copeland.

2013/14 – 6,485

2016/17 – 5,916

2017/18 – 5,488

2018/19 – 3,460 so far in the first six months but projected to rise to almost 7,000.

Aspatria and District Community Charity Association 

–  Distribution of food bank vouchers and recipients by Allerdale ward within the ADCCA area.

Aspatria 

2017/18

Vouchers fulfilled – 38

Adults fed – 58

Children fed – 20

Total people fed – 78

April 2018 to the present

Vouchers fulfilled – 23

Adults fed – 36

Children fed – 53

Total people fed – 89

Holme 

2017/18

Vouchers fulfilled – 20

Adults fed – 26

Children fed – 19

Total people fed – 45

April 2018 to the present

Vouchers fulfilled – 17

Adults fed – 24

Children fed – 9

Total people fed – 33

Solway

2017/18

Vouchers fulfilled – 2

Adults fed – 5

Children fed – 4

Total people fed – 9

April 2018 to the present

Vouchers fulfilled – 6

Adults fed – 10

Children fed – 4

Total people fed – 14

Wharrels 

2017/18

Vouchers fulfilled – 4

Adults fed – 5

Children fed – 3

Total people fed – 8

April 2018 to the present

Vouchers fulfilled – 1

Adults fed – 1

Children fed – 3

Total people fed – 4

Boltons

2017/18

Vouchers fulfilled – 1

Adults fed – 1

Children fed – 0

Total people fed – 1

April 2018 to the present

Vouchers fulfilled – 1

Adults fed – 1

Children fed – 0

Total people fed – 1

All Aspatria wards total 

2017/18

Vouchers fulfilled – 65

Adults fed – 95

Children fed – 46

Total people fed – 141

April 2018 to the present

Vouchers fulfilled – 48

Adults fed – 72

Children fed – 69

Total people fed – 141