Sarah Gibson

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this incredibly important debate, as shown by the number of Members present. I agree with Members, who have spoken so eloquently today, that the guiding principle of the UK welfare system must be to ensure that no one is unable to meet their children’s basic needs for survival and participation in society. The social security system in this country is not working as it should, and it is driving people further into poverty and making families rely on food banks. As my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) mentioned, the Trussell Trust alone delivered 3 million food parcels this year. From speaking to food bank organisers across my constituency, it is clear that donations are down but demand is up. As the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) said, this is a failing in our country. One of the major problems driving reliance on food banks is the increasing cost of living, which has not been helped by rising costs of energy. The churches in Corsham in my constituency organise a food bank, and as they say, “There is no point having food if you do not have the energy to cook it.” That is why that food bank is now also offering fuel vouchers of up to £40 a month throughout winter for those on pay-as-you-go meters, but rising energy costs mean that those vouchers are being stretched further. As my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) mentioned, that is leading to child poverty. There is additional pressure on food banks during school holidays. While children are at school during the week, they are on the whole able to access free school meals, but in the school holidays, food banks are inundated with young families. On that basis, my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I find it astonishing that the Government refuse to lift the two-child benefit cap, which would lift half a million children out of poverty, as has been mentioned by hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber. By removing the cap, we would transform the lives of struggling families and help to reduce dependency on food banks. As hon. Members have said, how we treat the most vulnerable in our society says a lot about our values. Asylum seekers have not yet been mentioned. A Liberal Democrat councillor and food bank volunteer in Corsham told me this weekend that the Home Office is giving asylum seekers only £35 a week to cover food, toiletries and clothing, so many are relying on food banks to survive. I would be grateful if the Minister could outline what actions are being taken to support the most vulnerable, such as asylum seekers and children, and to alleviate their reliance on food banks.