Moray food bank use up by 57%
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RICHARD Lochhead has heavily criticised the UK government following figures which show a continuing rise in the use of the Moray food bank.
Moray Food Plus has revealed that in the last six months it received 1132 referrals – a 57% increase on the same period last year.
In addition, the number of people it supported increased by 74% to 2470.
Commenting on the figures, Moray's MP said: "It is truly heartbreaking that foodbank use continues to rise. These devastating figures show the very real impact Tory Government welfare cuts are having on people in our local communities.
"The UK Government’s swingeing cuts to welfare is taking £13million every year out of the pockets of people in Moray. That’s a huge sum of money and it is forcing families in our communities into poverty.
"People in and out of work in Moray are being pushed to the brink, to the point where people are skipping meals and turning to charity to feed their children.
"Increasing food bank use is not only a damning indictment of UK Government cuts, it’s also sign that that the current welfare system is broken. People in Moray are being let down by a system that is supposed to support them – instead it is pushing them into poverty.
"Our local food bank has become an unfortunate necessity and we owe a huge debt to the volunteers and staff who are stepping in to support families in Moray."
Food bank providers have said the rise is largely due to the in-built minimum wait of five weeks for a first payment for those migrated to Universal Credit.
