Food bank use has soared in areas where full rollout of universal credit (UC) has taken place, according to figures released by the Trussell Trust today.
The figures show that in the year to March 2018 1.3 million three day emergency food packages were supplied. This is an increase of 13% compared to last year.
However, in areas where UC has been fully rolled-out for at least a year, food bank use has increased by a staggering 52%.
The main reasons for using food banks are benefit delays at 24%, benefit changes including sanctions and reduction in benefit value due to the uprating freeze at 18%.
The DWP have dismissed the findings as anecdotal and based on too small a sample.
However, the claim that people on UC are being particularly hard hit is supported by entirely separate research obtained from the National Housing Federation by Sky News. This shows that a huge 73% of housing association tenants on UC are in arrears, compared to 29% of those not on UC.
You can read the Trussell Trust report here.
You can read the Sky News report here.
