Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today set out his Spring Statement, which includes a package of measures designed to ease some of the pressure on households from soaring energy bills and other rising costs.
Worcester Foodbank welcomes these steps which include cutting fuel duty by 5p a litre and doubling the Household Support Fund to £1 billion, with the extra £500m being given to local authorities from April.
But these and other measures do not go far enough in protecting those on the lowest incomes from the tidal wave of bill increases that are set to hit households from 1 April.
Reacting to the Spring Statement, foodbank manager Grahame Lucas said: “The Chancellor’s Spring Statement was a missed opportunity to bring benefits into line with the soaring cost of living. Pressure on low-income households is at boiling point but they remain exposed to April’s wave of bill rises – and that risks turning the cost of living crisis into an emergency.”
“We take comfort from knowing our amazing supporters will continue to do all they can to help those in crisis and in the coming months we’ll need the community’s support more than ever.”
Referrals to foodbank have climbed to record levels in recent months and during February our volunteers fed 876 people – up nearly 10 per cent on the same month last year.