The Scottish government must do more for disabled people, with many being forced to food banks

Hunger in Scotland is not a food problem – it's an income problem.

Trussell’s recent findings show this more starkly than ever before, with the inadequate level of social security and disability benefits meaning that people receiving them are being left with no choice but to turn to food banks to get by.

Our new research finds that 9% of people claiming Universal Credit and disability benefits in Scotland were forced to use a food bank in the last month. That is equivalent to 55,000 people across the country.

Shockingly, this rises to 19% of people receiving Universal Credit and disability benefits in the UK. We know that disabled people are far more likely to need support from a food bank. This is likely due to the fact that essentials for a disabled person can be much more expensive than for someone without a disability.

Specialist kit for day-to-day activities and paying higher energy prices to power it are things many cannot live without. However, shockingly, our research found that almost six in ten people (55%) receiving Universal Credit and disability benefits in Scotland have been unable to keep their home warm this winter.

15% of people on Universal Credit in Scotland have been unable to access pain relief or medication.

Adult Disability Payment should work to mitigate the barriers to work, and extra costs faced by disabled people. But Trussell’s research found this is far from the truth.

Just under half (47%) of people claiming Universal Credit and disability benefits in Scotland report having skipped meals to keep up with other essential costs, like utilities or rent, while 44% of people in Scotland are behind on their bills, with almost a quarter (23%) behind on gas or electricity payments.

One per son from the study said they were “terrified” at the prospect of cuts to their disability benefits. Disabled people across Scotland are being forced to make impossible choices between heating and eating, while experiencing life-altering ill health.

Our findings show that almost just over a third (35%) receiving Universal Credit and disability benefits in Scotland believe that Holyrood is badly performing at improving living standards for them.

It is up to both Holyrood and Westminster to change this, by taking urgent action on hunger and hardship. Discussions about welfare cuts coming from the UK government are detached from the reality of life for thousands of disabled people, who find they are already not enough to live on.

While disability benefits are now devolved to Holyrood, people in Scotland are still fearful about how UK cuts might be felt in Scotland.

The research reveals that three quarters (75%) of people receiving Universal Credit and disability benefits in Scotland went without essentials in the last six months, like food, bills and toiletries.

This is not right.

Everyone should have any enough money to afford the essentials we need to survive, like food, bills and toiletries.

Food banks offer hope, dignity and relief to people facing hardship. But they shouldn’t have to exist. Incomes from work, and social security payments, should at least cover the cost of the essentials. It’s common sense. Every system needs updating over time, and our social security system is no different.

The majority of participants in our survey agree. Across the UK, 83% said they would support an ‘Essentials Guarantee’.

Trussell has joined together with hundreds of communities, food banks and charities including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in calling on the UK government to create an Essentials Guarantee in Universal Credit, which means the basic rate at least cover’s life’s essentials and that support can never be pulled below that level.

And here in Scotland, we need the Scottish Government to step up and use all its powers to increase incomes, to ensure people can afford the essentials.

We know we can end hunger, if positive action is taken.

Together we can end hunger for good. There is no time to lose.