Written evidence submission from the Independent Food Aid Network (COL0025)

Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) Response Scottish Affairs Select Committee Inquiry: Cost of living: impact on rural communities in Scotland

February 2023

The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) supports and advocates on behalf of hundreds of independent food aid providers including over 550 independent food banks.1 Our vision is of a country without the need for charitable food aid where adequate and nutritious food is affordable to all. We advocate for a cash first approach to food insecurity which, through income-based solutions, would reduce poverty driving the need for charitable food. This submission has been written on behalf of independent food banks2 who are currently supporting people in rural areas who are not able to afford food. The voices highlighted in this submission are a snapshot of the wider efforts of independent charitable food aid3 groups to support people in rural communities in Scotland.

IFAN member organisations, after experiencing unprecedented levels of demand throughout the pandemic, now find themselves on the frontlines of the cost-of-living crisis. Despite the currently high levels of demand, this food insecurity crisis is not new. Even in the year preceding the pandemic, 43% UK households on Universal Credit were food insecure.4 As is true in the rest of the UK, growing need for charitable food aid in rural communities in Scotland is a consequence of people not having enough income, either through social security payments or wages, to be in a position to afford food.

However, further factors create a poverty premium for people living in poverty in rural communities in Scotland. These include:

●        The cost of fuel - Limited access to gas causes a reliance on more expensive alternatives such as oil, and lack of effective insulation increases costs:

1 IFAN’s membership in Scotland includes over 100 independent food banks operating in 25 local authorities.

2 A food bank is a charitable or community organisation that distributes food parcels at least once a week to people experiencing financial hardship.

3 Charitable food aid refers to any charitable/community organisations supporting people facing financial hardship with food support. These include food banks as well as organisations like food pantries and social supermarkets. 4 Family Resources Survey: financial year 2019 to 2020, Department for Work and Pensions, March 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial- year-2019- to-2020

●        The cost of food and lack of variety in local shops:

●        Lack of transport and the cost of available transport. Not only through exorbitant bus fares and reduced frequency to nearby towns but - due to a lack of available services - impractical bus trips for single parents, disabled people, and older people:

●        Lack of support services including lack of mental health services and job centres:

●       
Digital exclusion through lack of internet connectivity and phone access:

UK Government cost-of-living support needs to take into consideration the poverty premium that many people in rural areas face. When it comes to assisting with the cost of essentials - if there are extra costs incurred through things such as the cost of food at local shops, fuel and transport required - these need to be factored into the level of payments in order for this support to be effective.

It’s imperative that the UK Government listens to the voices of representatives of independent charitable food aid providers. The Government already has the mechanisms of a social security

system in place to tackle food insecurity, through a cash first approach. We saw following the 20-pound-a-week uplift to Universal Credit during the pandemic, that there was a 16% drop in moderate to severe food insecurity for households in Universal Credit.5 While this submission has highlighted the voices of independent food bank teams, there are also now a variety of forms that charitable food aid can take, such as social supermarkets and food pantries. Yet no form of charitable food aid is able to tackle the root cause of these issues. People living in rural communities have the right to afford food for themselves rather than relying on charity to meet their basic needs.

The UK Government should work to implement a cash first approach that sees cost-of-living support alongside benefit levels and wages that match the reality of the cost of living in rural communities in Scotland. These interventions should be put in place alongside Scottish Government actions to prioritise income-focused solutions to growing food insecurity and should include:

●        uprating of social security payments in line with the cost of living as soon as possible

●        removing the 5-week wait for Universal Credit, the benefit cap, the two-child limit, the sanctions system, and No Recourse to Public Funds status

●        ensuring wages and working hours match the cost of living

●        Introducing further cost-of-living measures that take account of the poverty premium imposed on people struggling to afford food in rural communities

To make sure that cash first interventions are effective, steps also need to be taken to improve connectivity, reduce transport, fuel and food costs and increase the availability of affordable housing for people in rural communities.

Independent food bank teams (often made up of volunteers) operating across Scotland are exhausted and have been left to plug an ever-increasing gap for too long. In rural communities, food bank teams and the people they support face specific challenges due to the rural poverty premium and lack of available services. Cash first interventions alongside steps to reduce costs and increase the availability of services would reduce the pressure on food bank teams and would ultimately mean that everyone living in a rural community in Scotland is able to afford food.

Contact: admin@foodaidnetwork.org.uk

February 2023

5 Family Resources Survey: financial year 2020 to 2021, Department for Work and Pensions, March 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2020-to-2021.