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Wales Online
28-05-2025
- General
- Wales Online
More than 16,000 food parcels were handed out by foodbanks in RCT last year
More than 16,000 food parcels were handed out by foodbanks in RCT last year Data shows that 16,634 emergency food parcels were provided between April 2024 and March 2025 with 5,793 of them going to children One of the Rhondda foodbank sites in East Road, Tylorstown (Image: Google ) More than 16,000 emergency food parcels were given to people facing hunger by food banks in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) in the last year. A total of 16,634 emergency food parcels were provided between April 2024 and March 2025, with more than 5,793 of them being for children and annual figures from Trussell show 60,158 emergency food parcels were given out across Wales, which it said should be a 'wake-up call' for the UK Government to strengthen the social security system and rethink cuts to welfare which risk forcing more people into having to use food banks. RCT has seen a slight decrease of 7.7% in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year but it has seen persistently high levels of need over the last five years, and a 30.2% increase when compared with the same period in 2019-20. A spokesperson for the food bank networks said: 'Although we have seen a slight decrease in the number of parcels distributed, far too many people in our communities are still going without the essentials. 'We hear constantly about the struggles facing people at risk of hunger and hardship, and we need urgent action from the government to ensure everyone can a foodbank to survive. Pontypridd Foodbank, Rhondda Foodbank, Merthyr Cynon Foodbank, and Taf Ely Foodbank are part of the Trussell community of food banks, which has reported persistently high levels of need in the last 12 months, with almost three million (2,885,086) emergency food parcels provided to people facing hardship across the UK between April 2024 and March 2025. Article continues below More than a million of these parcels were provided for children. To get all the latest news on Welsh politics, health, education and other issues, sign up to our newsletter here. The food banks say everybody should have enough money in their pockets to put food on the table and are calling on the community to play their part to help end the need for emergency food in the UK. Emma Revie, chief executive of Trussell, said: 'Far too many children, families, disabled people, working people, and elderly people from across RCT needed to access food banks for emergency food in the past year. This should be a wake-up call to the government and a stark reminder of its responsibilities to the people of RCT. 'A whole generation has now grown up in RCT where sustained high levels of food bank need feels like the norm. 'The community has teachers, doctors, and healthcare professionals now routinely referring people to food banks as part of their day-to-day jobs, showing how emergency food has sadly become a fixture. If you can, please play your part and help change this.' A UK Government spokesperson said: 'This government is determined to change people's lives for the better, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years. 'We are reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most. 'As part of our Plan for Change, we are extending the Household Support Fund, launching 750 breakfast clubs across the country and making changes to Universal Credit to give a £420 boost to over one million households.' People can donate food or funds to or Article continues below
New Statesman
21-05-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Child poverty is a scar on our national conscience
We simply must talk about child poverty in Britain. And I thank the New Statesman for this unique special edition bringing together policymakers, anti-poverty campaigners, concerned celebrities and children's champions to form a new coalition of compassion to make Britain child-friendly again. For the sad but true fact is that child poverty is the biggest cause of social division in Britain today, a scar on our national conscience, and a stain on the soul of the country. Seventy-five per cent of people, according to a new poll commissioned by me and the New Statesman, believe child poverty to be 'morally wrong'. But decisions taken ten years ago by past Conservative ministers still cast a long shadow from beyond their political grave. They have ensured that, by denying newborn third children £66 a week, child poverty – already at a record 4.5 million when they left office – is destined to rise to 4.8 million children by 2029. They have also made it impossible to achieve the most recently announced milestone for being 'ready to learn': the government's target is to ensure that by 2028, 75 per cent of five-year-olds will be ready for primary school. This will not be met if only 65 per cent are poverty-free. These statistics refer to relative poverty, but on every other measure – from the number of children in destitution or near destitution, to a definition of what is needed for a dignified life, to a wider definition including lack of wealth as well as lack of income – child poverty is on the rise. Nearly one million children try to sleep at night with no bed of their own. More than 2.7 million are in families that can't afford to replace broken electrical goods such as a fridge or washing machine or are without adequate toiletries, soap or toothpaste. And three million children are regularly forced to do without meals through lack of money to buy food. The result is that, measured by the usual indicators, the gap between rich and poor is as wide and demeaning now as it was in the 'loadsamoney', 'greed is good' Thatcherite 1980s. It costs more not to invest in children than to invest in them, as articles by Ashley John-Baptiste and Emma Revie (in the Spotlight supplement that accompanies my guest edited issue of the New Statesman) show: for every 1,000 children forced into residential care because of their family's poverty, we pay out up to £300m a year. And assessments of the Sure Start programme, killed by the Conservatives after 2010, show that the costs of intervening are covered more than twice over by savings on healthcare, special needs education and juvenile delinquency. To their credit, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves set up the Child Poverty Review to redeem the Labour promise 'to reduce child poverty this parliament' and to end the need for reliance on food banks. And the way forward is to offer a fairness guarantee, an anti-poverty lock, ensuring that no family that is working hard or doing the right things should end up trapped in poverty. The George Osborne argument – that middle-class families who cannot afford children are paying tax so that poorer parents can have more children and game the benefits system – does not hold. Indeed his portrayal of parents on benefits as feckless and workshy is unfair: more than 70 per cent of poor children and 60 per cent of families affected by the two-child rule have at least one working parent, and most of the rest are victims of sickness or recent but temporary redundancies, or lack access to childcare. Of course, the Treasury could redeploy to children the savings that come from action against fraud. And, as Mike Brewer writes in Spotlight, breadwinners retraining for work could result in a £2bn reduction in the benefits bill and a reduction in child poverty of 130,000. But if that is to be redirected to other actions against poverty, an extra £9bn of investment can be sourced from public and private funds, none of which breaks the government's fiscal rules or any manifesto commitment on taxation. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe We could raise, as Harry Quilter-Pinner shows, £3bn from levying the hyper-profitable online gambling industry, now rightly subject to a Treasury consultation. Another £3bn could come from a tiered approach to paying interest on cash held by banks at the Bank of England, as recommended here by its former deputy governor Paul Tucker. Third-sector anti-poverty groups could benefit from another £3bn through Gift Aid changes (£740m alone by securing the full value of donations by top-rate taxpayers), from corporate philanthropy (donations have not risen at the same rates as profits: on this measure companies are giving £3bn less than they were in 2015) and from a new £1bn fund set out here by Sir Ronald Cohen for supporting children in the poorest areas. The two-child rule is not well understood by those not affected by it, but according to polling I have commissioned with the New Statesman from Focaldata, 42 per cent already think it should be abolished, and more than three- quarters of those who currently support it say it should be removed if abolishing it is shown – as the evidence strongly suggests – to be a cost-effective way of reducing poverty. The public sees the need for change in another survey conducted for my guest-edited edition of the NS by Hope Not Hate and Survation; 87 per cent of those who expressed an opinion said they believe that we should tax gambling to pay for action on child poverty. A levy on highly profitable banks was supported by 82 per cent of those who expressed an opinion for or against the policy. Around three-quarters (74 per cent) of respondents who answered for or against ring-fencing these levies to reduce child poverty said they would be more supportive of the policies if they knew they would raise funds to alleviate this problem. As the survey indicates, they believe children are our future, that all of us are affected by child poverty and all are better off if we reduce it. Indeed, as the polling and the eloquent support given in these pages by David Tennant, Kit de Waal, Armando Iannucci and others show, we cannot be comfortable when so many people live in discomfort, at ease when so many people are ill at ease and content when there is so much discontent. The majority of our fellow citizens believe that as a society we are richer when we care for our poor, more secure when we come to the aid of the insecure, and that when the strong help the weak it makes us all stronger. So child poverty is not inevitable. A Labour government has taken millions of children out of poverty before. If we are to advance the prospects of a new generation of children languishing in poverty, now is the time to do so again. [See also: Dickens's Britain is still with us] Related
Wales Online
21-05-2025
- General
- Wales Online
Millions of food parcels handed out in UK as number rises 51 per cent
Millions of food parcels handed out in UK as number rises 51 per cent There has been a 46% rise in food parcels provided to families with children, and a 32% rise in parcels to support children under the age of five The number of emergency food parcels given out across the UK has risen by more than half in the past five years The number of emergency food parcels given out across the UK has risen by more than half in the past five years, according to a charity. Food bank network Trussell urged the Government to row back on its welfare reform plans, which it described as a 'harmful' policy choice and said Labour risks a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty. There were almost 2.9 million emergency food parcels handed out in the year to March 2025, the charity said. The latest figure of 2,885,086 is a 51% rise on 1,909,345 parcels given out in the year to March 2020. Trussell said the figures also show struggles for families, with the charity saying there has been a 46% rise in emergency food parcels provided to families with children, and a 32% rise in parcels to support children under the age of five since 2020. The most recent overall number is down on last year's record high of 3,126,479 parcels. Food parcel demand fell in each of the four UK nations, to 2,396,853 in England, 239,503 in Scotland, 171,673 in Wales and 77,057 in Northern Ireland. Deliveries also fell across each region except London where it rose from 454,998 in the year to March 2024 to 455,571 in the year to this March. Trussell chief executive Emma Revie said the Government must make addressing hunger and hardship a priority as part of its overall plans to boost the economy, as she urged a rethink on welfare reforms. Proposals, set out earlier this year, would tighten the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit in England and see the sickness-related element of Universal Credit cut. The package of measures are aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since. The Government hopes the proposals can save £5 billion a year by the end of the decade but an impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – could fall into relative poverty as a result of the changes. Article continues below Last week, it emerged Rachel Reeves's local Labour party is to demand that the Chancellor abandons her plans to cut disability benefits. The Leeds West and Pudsey Constituency Labour Party (CLP), which campaigned to return Ms Reeves to Parliament in the general election as its local MP, agreed to write to her 'as soon as possible' to make clear it does not support the cuts. The local party branch passed a motion opposing the cuts, seen by the PA news agency, when it met last week. Meanwhile, Trussell also called for local housing allowance to be unfrozen, arguing the freeze can have a major impact on the ability of those most in need to afford the essentials. Ms Revie said: 'Thousands of families with children, single households, disabled people, working people and older people from across the UK needed to access food banks for emergency food in the past year. 'A whole generation has now grown up in a country where sustained high levels of food bank need feel like the norm. This should be a massive wake-up call to Government and a stark reminder of their responsibilities to the people of this country. 'This UK government will fail to deliver on its promise to improve living standards for us all unless it rows back on its harmful policy choices on disability benefits and housing support and shows greater ambition on areas like the upcoming child poverty strategy and future of local crisis support. Without action, they risk leaving a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty. 'It is clear that the public's cost of living fears are far from over, and these numbers show why. If the UK government truly wants to improve public services, boost the economy and make the UK a better place to live, then addressing hunger and hardship must be a priority.' A Government spokesperson said: 'This Government is determined to change people's lives for the better, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years. We are reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most. Article continues below 'As part of our Plan for Change we are extending the Household Support Fund, launching 750 breakfast clubs across the country and making changes to universal credit to give a £420 boost to over one million households.'
South Wales Guardian
21-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Charity urges action on hardship as food bank demand up by half in five years
Food bank network Trussell urged the Government to row back on its welfare reform plans, which it described as a 'harmful' policy choice and said Labour risks a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty. There were almost 2.9 million emergency food parcels handed out in the year to March 2025, the charity said. The latest figure of 2,885,086 is a 51% rise on 1,909,345 parcels given out in the year to March 2020. Trussell said the figures also show struggles for families, with the charity saying there has been a 46% rise in emergency food parcels provided to families with children, and a 32% rise in parcels to support children under the age of five since 2020. The most recent overall number is down on last year's record high of 3,126,479 parcels. Food parcel demand fell in each of the four UK nations, to 2,396,853 in England, 239,503 in Scotland, 171,673 in Wales and 77,057 in Northern Ireland. Deliveries also fell across each region except London where it rose from 454,998 in the year to March 2024 to 455,571 in the year to this March. Trussell chief executive Emma Revie said the Government must make addressing hunger and hardship a priority as part of its overall plans to boost the economy, as she urged a rethink on welfare reforms. Proposals, set out earlier this year, would tighten the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit in England and see the sickness-related element of Universal Credit cut. The package of measures are aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since. The Government hopes the proposals can save £5 billion a year by the end of the decade but an impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – could fall into relative poverty as a result of the changes. Last week, it emerged Rachel Reeves's local Labour party is to demand that the Chancellor abandons her plans to cut disability benefits. The Leeds West and Pudsey Constituency Labour Party (CLP), which campaigned to return Ms Reeves to Parliament in the general election as its local MP, agreed to write to her 'as soon as possible' to make clear it does not support the cuts. The local party branch passed a motion opposing the cuts, seen by the PA news agency, when it met last week. Meanwhile, Trussell also called for local housing allowance to be unfrozen, arguing the freeze can have a major impact on the ability of those most in need to afford the essentials. Ms Revie said: 'Thousands of families with children, single households, disabled people, working people and older people from across the UK needed to access food banks for emergency food in the past year. 'A whole generation has now grown up in a country where sustained high levels of food bank need feel like the norm. This should be a massive wake-up call to Government and a stark reminder of their responsibilities to the people of this country. 'This UK government will fail to deliver on its promise to improve living standards for us all unless it rows back on its harmful policy choices on disability benefits and housing support and shows greater ambition on areas like the upcoming child poverty strategy and future of local crisis support. 'Without action, they risk leaving a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty. 'It is clear that the public's cost of living fears are far from over, and these numbers show why. If the UK government truly wants to improve public services, boost the economy and make the UK a better place to live, then addressing hunger and hardship must be a priority.' A Government spokesperson said: 'This Government is determined to change people's lives for the better, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years. 'We are reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most. 'As part of our Plan for Change we are extending the Household Support Fund, launching 750 breakfast clubs across the country and making changes to universal credit to give a £420 boost to over one million households.'
North Wales Chronicle
21-05-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Charity urges action on hardship as food bank demand up by half in five years
Food bank network Trussell urged the Government to row back on its welfare reform plans, which it described as a 'harmful' policy choice and said Labour risks a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty. There were almost 2.9 million emergency food parcels handed out in the year to March 2025, the charity said. The latest figure of 2,885,086 is a 51% rise on 1,909,345 parcels given out in the year to March 2020. Trussell said the figures also show struggles for families, with the charity saying there has been a 46% rise in emergency food parcels provided to families with children, and a 32% rise in parcels to support children under the age of five since 2020. The most recent overall number is down on last year's record high of 3,126,479 parcels. Food parcel demand fell in each of the four UK nations, to 2,396,853 in England, 239,503 in Scotland, 171,673 in Wales and 77,057 in Northern Ireland. Deliveries also fell across each region except London where it rose from 454,998 in the year to March 2024 to 455,571 in the year to this March. Trussell chief executive Emma Revie said the Government must make addressing hunger and hardship a priority as part of its overall plans to boost the economy, as she urged a rethink on welfare reforms. Proposals, set out earlier this year, would tighten the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit in England and see the sickness-related element of Universal Credit cut. The package of measures are aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since. The Government hopes the proposals can save £5 billion a year by the end of the decade but an impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – could fall into relative poverty as a result of the changes. Last week, it emerged Rachel Reeves's local Labour party is to demand that the Chancellor abandons her plans to cut disability benefits. The Leeds West and Pudsey Constituency Labour Party (CLP), which campaigned to return Ms Reeves to Parliament in the general election as its local MP, agreed to write to her 'as soon as possible' to make clear it does not support the cuts. The local party branch passed a motion opposing the cuts, seen by the PA news agency, when it met last week. Meanwhile, Trussell also called for local housing allowance to be unfrozen, arguing the freeze can have a major impact on the ability of those most in need to afford the essentials. Ms Revie said: 'Thousands of families with children, single households, disabled people, working people and older people from across the UK needed to access food banks for emergency food in the past year. 'A whole generation has now grown up in a country where sustained high levels of food bank need feel like the norm. This should be a massive wake-up call to Government and a stark reminder of their responsibilities to the people of this country. 'This UK government will fail to deliver on its promise to improve living standards for us all unless it rows back on its harmful policy choices on disability benefits and housing support and shows greater ambition on areas like the upcoming child poverty strategy and future of local crisis support. 'Without action, they risk leaving a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty. 'It is clear that the public's cost of living fears are far from over, and these numbers show why. If the UK government truly wants to improve public services, boost the economy and make the UK a better place to live, then addressing hunger and hardship must be a priority.' A Government spokesperson said: 'This Government is determined to change people's lives for the better, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years. 'We are reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most. 'As part of our Plan for Change we are extending the Household Support Fund, launching 750 breakfast clubs across the country and making changes to universal credit to give a £420 boost to over one million households.'
