Universal Credit and Food Banks

[Unicornfeathers]

I probably am being unreasonable but am I right in thinking that the rise in the use of food banks and UC has gone hand in hand?

Basically I became a carer in November, not the first time but first time I have had to apply for UC. Fast forward 7 weeks and I’m in my overdraft for first time in many years (I have no debts, not even a credit card) and I’ve been referred to a food bank.

Feels very weird and I am just wondering if there are others in the same boat?

Unicorn, no they won't. Any volunteer showing any judgy attitudes wouldn't be a volunteer for very long!

You lot are lovely - thank you so much - you have no idea how scary it is walking into a food bank But I feel much better!

back to you!

At ours you give in the voucher and are asked to sit in the waiting room, where you will be offered a brew and a biscuit. There's a volunteer who sits with you while the other two pick and pack (ours is only a tiny room so you can't go in). If there is anything he really won't eat please mention it along with the reason and we'll do our best to avoid them if possible.

When we are picking, we have a list based on your circumstances (eg 1 adult, 1 child) and will give you what is on the list. If we haven't got a particular item we will substitute it for the nearest we can. Your voucher will also tell us if you need toiletries, which again we pick from a list. If there is anything in particular you need, for example sanitary towels, just let them know.

I got a first payment but it was halved because I got part of a wage (my final wage) in the assessment period.

I'm generally a fan of UC, but this the most blatant shortcoming of it I've come across. The central conceit of UC is that income (from UC and work) is always regarded as being paid monthly in arrears. To be logically consistent with it's own premise, any work income received in the first period should be split pro rata into amounts attributed to before and after you sign on. So if for example you receive your salary on the fifth day of a 31-day period, (31-5)/31 of it should be ignored in calculating UC. Only if the work income is received on the very last day of the first period should all of it be counted.

I so wasn’t expecting this - sad here in tears of relief - I posted because I just wondered if it was just me struggling but not only have I learnt it’s not but i’ve also learnt that there are some lovely people volunteering in food banks.
I also hadn’t realised how anxious I was about the whole situation.

The food that has been posted sounds fine - he wouldn’t eat tinned meat but everything else he will eat by the bucket load (he’s 14!) - I have some meals bulk frozen and some cupboard store items so I confident we won’t statve but as the lady who is referring us said the food bank might meant the difference between being ok next month or not....

Exactly that Firesuit - the ‘wage’ I got was mostly holiday pay

So many people struggling with UC for various reasons. It’s not fit for purpose & isn’t meant to be sadly. So many people will suffer

Our food bank also refers to local services such as benefit advice, eg - does your son get DLA, or the LA for short term support, local charity / voluntary service where you can get a shopping voucher if there are special dietary needs. Some offer help with gas and electricity.

UC is harsh and unfair and the administration is a disgrace, unfortunately the government are doing nothing to resolve it.

You are right 100% its because of UC, I got paid early for Christmas so I had two salaries in my assessment period so UC paid me considerably less than what I would have got if only my wages come in one day later!!!! I have no money and if it wasn’t for my family helping me I’d have to go to a food bank

I work closely with people who claim and the teams who manage universal credit.

There are so many problems with universal credit that it is hard to imagine that it wasnt deliberately set out to be as complicated as possible while appearing to be very simple.

First there us the training which is woefully inadequate for such a complicated benefit. Remember that UC replaced 5 other benefits that each had their own rules and regulations that needed experts to unwind. Replace these 5 lots of experts with 1 poorly trained case manager who has to fathom out every little thing themselves with piecemeal information and you have a recipe for disaster.
Oh and these case managers have to control hundreds of claims and have the responsibility of making sure every one gets paid on time. Lots of them also have to answer phone calls all day -while still doing the case managing duties.

Then you have the clunky system which is unfathomable for a lot of folk who had never used a computer for anything serious before. They agree to all sorts of things and confirm details that havent happened simply because they arent computer literate. They often dont know theyve cocked up because it takes such a long time for case managers to become aware of any problems.

Then of course people have their own problems -as highlighted above there is a huge problem with earnings being reported early/late/twice/for the wrong person . All have to be investigated and if found to be incorrect will be repaid but it can and often does take 2-3 months for the outcome. All the whole you are a whole months money down. Even if you have a good income Id like to see most people wear that without some sort of fallout.

And then there are sanctions which cause so much suffering . THey arent as punative as they used to be but still for a person with a chaotic lifestyle it seems that to be 5 minutes late can cost you hundreds of pounds.

Oh dear Ive gone on a bit. I dont even work with the very worst cases. Just the day to day folk who are bewildered by the whole system and have to accept that this is how it is these days and that foodbanks are just about the only help out there at the moment.

mycats sorry to jump in on a small point - but that document fiasco should not have happened. Losing them once is understandable. Twice isn't right especially recorded delivery - of course it's not DWPs fault but nor is it yours. Did they do a proper search for it? As for the jobcentre staff holding it, I'm staggered. That is bloody irresponsible at best and breaching data protection at worst.

As someone who works for them, don't be sorry. The system is shit. Some staff can be rude or unhelpful (I rang someone back today - promised a call back yesterday but couldn't reach her. Was glad I tried again as she rang later yesterday and the person on the phone was quite abrupt and couldn't reassure her or give her ant timeframe at all)

I volunteer with citizens advice and we give out food vouchers. I’d say a lot of it is universal credit.

People get into debt at the start trying to make ends meet. If they take the advance it has to be paid back. For a single adult age 25 or over £317.82 has to cover all outgoings apart from rent. (That includes 15% of council tax in my area.) Taking just that portion as the advance means repaying £26 per month back as it is expected to take a year so you have to show more hardship to go slower. So down to £290. You could take more so include the housing element so you can pay rent on time. However the deduction will be higher and if you are going to pay all your rent still comes off that £317.82.

Op, i don’t know anything about foodbanks but i just wanted to say, you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Walk in there with your head held high, it’s an appalling state of affairs when one of the richest countries in the world has set up a system purposely designed to cause hardship to those in need.

Thank you everyone - I was doing tea and washing up, etc...

Nanna my son gets DLA and I have had a Carers Assessment today - it’s them who are referring to a food bank. They have also offered other support. Basically I am pulling all professionals I can because of other issues and mentioning UC as I do.... interestingly my sons social worker didn’t even mention a food bank when I told her ...

I don't know if your social worker would be authorised to issue food voucher. There's only 2 people at our main refer place that can issue them and if they're not in then the client can't get a voucher

thatsmycoat Well, I don’t personally like them. Not sure really

Have you had an empathy bypass or are you not bothered about people worrying where the next meal is coming from and children going to school hungry - heard it all now.

Why would I like food banks? Why would I like people needing them?

Weirdo.

OPs payment problem is similar to the problem already discussed on MN that if you're paid 4-weekly, then sooner or later you will have 2 payments in once calendar month, and you UC will be reduced or stopped for the month. ... but it looks like there may be good news on that front:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/11/four-single-mothers-win-high-court-benefits-battle-against-dwp-universal-credit

"Four working single mothers have won a legal victory that could force the government to radically overhaul the way it operates the controversial universal credit scheme.

Two high court judges ruled the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was wrongly interpreting universal credit regulations after the women – who had argued they were struggling financially because of how the welfare system worked – were successful in their judicial review.

The women had argued a “fundamental problem” with the scheme meant their monthly payments varied enormously and they had ended up out of pocket, a problem their lawyers said was likely to affect tens of thousands of people."

This is a great victory but it shouldn't take going to the High Court for the Civil Servants and Government to accept the system was badly flawed - enough people have tried to tell them - they shouldn't have had their fingers jammed in their sodding ears.

Just to pile the pressure on even more - I have been overpaid tax credits so owe them money which they will deduct from my UC
Every penny of my UC is accounted for so not sure where this leaves me over the next few months. I have reviewed all my bills and made cuts and savings where I can. I was spending a lot of the food shop but I have managed to cut that down by nearly half without starving us.

I am so screwed - I can’t work but this is going to end up with us in a really big hole financially

Unicorn Im so sorry to hear that.

After 15th May mixed age pensioner couples will have to apply for UC as they will no longer be allowed PC.

Unicorn feathers - I know a number of foodbank volunteers as out church runs a local one.

You will not be judged, and if there is something that you will not eat it is better to explain and ask if it could be swapped for something else, than it be wasted.

There was a press article recently about another foodbank in our town. The article explained that they offer tea, biscuits and a chat. It also mentioned that people turn up in cars, but that the cars were bought before a change in circumstance, and are often needed as a number of people needing to use food banks are also working and need a car to get to get to work.

Can you get a budgeting loan from the social fund while on UC?