Government Recommends a further 2.69million English Families to be sent to food banks

[BeingAMumIsFun]

Reports on Friday stated an increasing number of British families going to Trussell Trust Foodbanks (they don't tell us the increase is because the Goverment is forcing job centre staff to hand out Trussell Trust food vouchers if benefit payments are late or people are refused a crisis loan)

But what mothers of England also are not being told is the government plans to abolish the DWP crisis loans

2.69 million English families got crisis loans in 2010 from the DWP (DWP official figure) in a time of crisis (the average loan was £83 which was all paid back)

The government is abolishing crisis loans and recommends English Councils send people to the Trussell Trust for a food parcel instead

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-fund-localisation-call-for-evidence.pdf

So the shocking figure of 130,000 getting food parcels from the Trusell Trust, reported on Friday, will from next year rise to 2.96 million families (that means about 10 million men women and children to be fed from food parcels in England alone as a deliberate government policy change and recommendation

Crisis loans are for working families, not just those on benefit e.g. your child is in hospital, your home is flooded - any unexpected crisis -

Crisis loans cost the nation nothing - they are paid back

So why are the Liberals and Tories abolishing them and recommending councils can keep the money (to be transferred from the DWP) and send people to the Trussell Trust for food parcels instead

These crisis loans are used by many families to top up their pre pay gas and electricity metres in winter -as benefit and low pay just does not stretch to the high cost of power in winter.

Surely every mum has a right to know - before they cast their vote in council elections what each candidate plans

Will your councillors be sending mothers to foodbanks in a crisis - or will your councillor ensure a small short term crisis loan is still available to allow mothers to buy fresh milk, fresh bread, fresh vegetables and fresh meat locally (there is no fresh food in a food parcel and the food bank could be miles away)

Every mother in England needs to ask their council candidates what their plans are - food banks or the current short term small loan which is paid back to allow famiilies to keep their dignity and decide for themselves what they get to eat from local shops

These crisis loans cost us nothing - food banks - humiliating and degrading - every mother should have the ability to buy fresh food for her children when a short term crisis uses the family budget.

The government gets 25% of British earnings every single week (12% from the employee and 13% from the employer) - this is hundreds of billions

So why should working people - who the government asked to pay an extra 1% in National Insurance be denied the only benefit they may need to call on in a crisis - when 2.69 million English families use this every year this proves there is a vital need for this small loan system which works extremely well for everyone - including the tax payer

BeingaMumIsFun

Oh, what a surprise. Your only reference is the Guardian. I thought you might have some information that wasn't from the Daily Mail's left-wing equivalent.

Let me answer your loaded question, then. Yes, it is right because it is the taxpayer who pays. They don't have a "right to buy fresh food". It's not their money.

And you keep saying they 'pay it back' - well, only because the money is automatically deducted from future benefits so there's no way to avoid it.

And yes, people have every right to decide how their money is spent.

is it right to deny women the right to buy their family fresh food as they can currently do?

ignoring the sexism, noone is denying them anything. i dont have a 'right to buy fresh food', nor does anyone else.

Do you think millions of mothers on this site should be forced to travel miles for a food parcel rather than go to their local DWP who will issue them with a crisis loan (which they pay back)?

again, ignoring the sexism, its completed normal for healthy grown ups to have to travel.

I have never stopped to wonder where does my tax money go. I don't have a problem with tax and I don't need to see a poor person, an elderly person or someone with disabilities and scrutinise them before deciding if they are worthy of help. That isn't my responsibility.

Are crisis loans better than food parcels, yes because it isn't charity it is a loan. It is a rather neutral way of helping people rather than making them beg for charity. Food parcels and charity freebies are not good for the recipients and not good for society either.

flatpack, once benefits are paid to the recipient it is their money.

You don't have to be on benefits to apply for a crisis loan. It isn't just people on benefits that are using the food banks. It's also those on low income who've had unexpected problems.

Food banks aren't funded by taxes, the food is donated by members of the public and are manned by volunteers.

"If the amount of tax that is dodged by the wealthy in this country were collected there would be no need for food parcels."
A) it will never happen. Tax avoidance has existed for as long as tax has.
B) any tax collected will be spent. People's expectations of what the government should be doing for them will rise even higher. Upon any economic downturn people would still be reliant on crisis loans and food parcels because they are economically illiterate and spend frivilously during the good times.

imogen, it won't be millions. There will be other reasons for the loans included in the 1.3 million who applied.

It's 3 days of food, for up to 3 parcels. So up to 9 days of food. After that they are referred to other organisations. It's a short term measure to help a family out of an immediate situation.

The document in the OP says that the government will write to councils to outline their expectations for the transition. So maybe, while the services are in a development/planning phase in some areas, they will 'expect' that the council provides cash solutions.

We do not expect local authorities to recreate Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans locally

So they don't expect the same scheme from councils. That doesn't mean they can't provide some short term loan service.

I think people should read this follow up document:

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-fund-localisation-response.pdf

I agree with you OP,
Tinned peas can't heat your house.
And there is a dignity about quietly receiving a loan that you can pay back.

And I'm speechless at the comment that somebody made above, something along the lines of "she could be buying junk food"

Actually no, cross-cultural studies have shown that the more resources women have the better fed, better dressed and better educated the children are.

Take a look at the document on the link I posted on Fri 04-May-12 14:40:10.

Percentage of all awards that were 4th or subsequent awards 41%

If someone isn't managing on their existing benefits, giving them debt to pay back isn't going to help. They'll have less money for everyday expenses, eventually apply for another loan then have even less for day to day living.

45. In summary the evidence on Crisis Loans shows that:

? Moving to a remote telephone based service has led to unacceptable increases in volumes of applications and costs which are in part driven by widespread misuse of the system;
? It is difficult and expensive to make robust and fully evidenced discretionary decisions about levels of need and the extent of a crisis without some local knowledge;
? The design and delivery of the current scheme does not identify vulnerable people and refer them on to appropriate services where further additional support is needed. As a result a small but significant number of people are locked into a counterproductive and damaging cycle of increasing debt through repeat applications and awards.