New analysis from anti-poverty charity Trussell has found that
440,000 people in disabled households will be forced into severe
hardship and at risk of needing a food bank in 2029/30, if the UK
government goes ahead with planned cuts to social security.
The report – produced by economic and public policy experts WPI
Economics for Trussell – models the projected impact of proposed
changes to social security for disabled people on the number of
people facing hunger and hardship in the UK, a measure of deep
poverty which captures people at risk of needing to use a food
bank now or in the future.[1]
It also shows that the UK government's planned increase to the
basic rate of Universal Credit will move 95,000 people out of
severe hardship - which Trussell says is clear evidence this
welcome step cannot possibly make up for the sheer scale of the
damage of cuts. The net impact of reforms will still be around
340,000 more people in disabled households facing hunger and
hardship.[2]
This new analysis comes just weeks after Trussell revealed that
almost 3 million emergency food parcels were distributed across
the UK during the past year. This is equivalent to one parcel
every 11 seconds and a 51% increase compared to five years ago.
Trussell warns that UK government's proposed £7 billion cuts to
support for disabled people are likely to undermine its goal of
increasing employment and will drive higher costs for public
services. Trussell and WPI Economics have shown that even before
these cuts, the ongoing failure to tackle hunger and hardship
leads to the UK government spending an additional £13.7 billion a
year on public services alone, like the NHS, schools and
children's social care.
As MPs prepare to vote on legislation to introduce the cuts,
Trussell is urging the UK government to think again and halt
these damaging cuts to support for disabled people. They will be
condemning hundreds of thousands of people to severe hardship and
piling the pressure on food banks across the country, which are
already stretched to breaking point.
As well as axing the proposed cuts, Trussell is calling on the UK
government to bring forward the planned increase to the basic
rate of Universal Credit so it comes into full effect from April
2026, rather than April 2029.
Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, said: “This UK
government was elected on a promise of change, and with a
commitment to end the need for food banks. If the government goes
ahead with these ill-considered and cruel cuts to social
security, this promise will not be kept – and instead, they will
risk leaving behind a legacy of rising poverty and hunger.
“Tackling fiscal challenges should not be done at the expense of
people already facing hunger and hardship. These cuts will force
440,000 people in disabled households into severe hardship and
leave them at risk of needing a food bank. We urge the government
not to continue down this damaging path.
“We support the plan to reform employment support and help more
people into work, where their health allows this and accessible
jobs are available, but these proposed cuts will utterly
undermine this goal. Slashing support will damage people's health
and reduce their ability to engage in training and work.”
Zoe Nixon, director at Newquay Foodbank, said: “We see
disproportionally high numbers of food bank visitors who either
have a health concern or disability, or have caring
responsibilities for someone with a disability in their
household. Life simply costs more for disabled people.
“Though not unique to Cornwall, people across our area are faced
with landlords forcing unjustified and ever rising rents on
people, a lack of public transport to allow people to get to
medical appointments, and people cannot access shops and
supermarkets beyond convenience stores which often means higher
prices due to lack of competition.
“Social security payments do not allow people to afford the
essentials, and this is amplified when you live in a rural
community. We fear that once these cuts are forced through
Parliament, we will see more households being forced to access
our help.”
You can find out how many emergency food parcels were distributed
in your area, and write to your MP to express your concerns at
these cuts, on the Trussell website: https://campaign.trussell.org.uk/parcels-by-postcode
-ENDS-
About Trussell:
We're an anti-poverty charity and community of food banks. We
work together to ensure no one in the UK needs a food bank to
survive, while providing emergency food and practical support for
people left without enough money to live on.
Notes to editors
People face severe hardship if they are more than 25% below the
Social Metrics Commission's poverty line. This captures both
people who are likely to need to turn to a food bank now and
people who are at high risk of needing food bank support in the
future. This modelling was conducted by WPI Economics using the
IPPR tax-benefit model. The model is owned by the Institute for
Public Policy Research and is maintained by researchers at
Manchester Metropolitan University.
[1] https://www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-research/publications/report/cost-of-hunger-and-hardship-final-report
2 Numbers may not sum up to totals due to rounding and
the hunger and hardship threshold shifting slightly due to the
impact of reforms.
[1] https://www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-research/publications/report/cost-of-hunger-and-hardship-final-report
[2] Numbers may not sum up
to totals due to rounding and the hunger and hardship threshold
shifting slightly due to the impact of reforms.
