A NORTH-east councillor has labelled Peterhead the “food bank capital” of Aberdeenshire.
Alan Buchan claimed the town now had as many of the emergency outlets as the rest of the region combined.
Mr Buchan spoke out after the Scottish Parliament’s welfare reform committee was told rising demand for free food relief was “inextricably linked” to UK Government policies.
The claim came from the Trussell Trust, which runs food banks across the north and north-east.
It helped more than 56,000 people throughout Scotland between April last year and February 24 – up from 14,318 during the same period the year before.
Scotland development officer Ewan Gurr, who made the link, said: “They are a grass-roots response to a systemic problem and are often a lifesaver to many individuals and families who feel they have nowhere else to turn.”
The committee heard food banks helped people from different walks of life, including working families on low incomes, people on benefits, the disabled and the elderly.
Many of those who are asking for aid have been plunged into debt because of the so-called bedroom tax, benefit sanctions and delays to the payment of crisis loans.
Food parcels generally contain non-perishable goods including tinned fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, pasta, cereal, UHT milk, sauces, tea and long-life juice.
Mr Buchan, who represents Peterhead North and Rattray, said: “Peterhead has become the food bank and soup kitchen capital of Aberdeenshire.
“There are four or five food banks in the town as well as various charities running unofficial soup kitchens while there are only another four food banks across the rest of the region in Inverurie, Banchory, Banff and Fraserburgh.
“The situation has become so critical in Peterhead that I’ve been told of one which is helping without referrals,” added Mr Buchan.
“The demand the staff are facing is so great that they are giving to everyone, rather than only those sent to them by social work or other groups.”
Mr Buchan said Peterhead had some of the poorest communities in Scotland and the most deprived in Aberdeenshire.
Banff and Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford visited Joseph’s Storehouse in the Apex Church Centre on Peterhead’s Chapel Street to see for herself the level of demand.
She said: “Across Scotland, food bank use has increased fivefold in the last year, with increases driven by mostly steep hikes in the cost of living – especially for essentials like food and heating – and the UK Government’s cuts to welfare provision.
“No one in a country as prosperous as Scotland should be dependent on food parcels.
“Although Peterhead is one of the wealthier parts of Scotland, it’s important to remember that there are significant numbers of people struggling on very low incomes in our community,” added the MSP.
Welfare reforms have also been blamed for referrals to a food bank in Elgin soaring by more than 1,000%.
Jo Roberts of Community Food Moray said 301 applications were made in January and February this year – up from 26 over the same period in 2013.
She said the group helped many people in work who were struggling to make ends meet because wages were not keeping pace with the rising cost of living.
Ms Roberts told Holyrood’s welfare reform committee many clients were given cold food parcels because they could not afford to use their cookers, ovens and microwaves.
However, north-east Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone, who sits on the committee, claimed welfare reform was not “fundamentally responsible” for food banks.
“It has got to do with the higher cost of fuel, food and transport and poor administration within the UK Department of Work and Pensions and about the introduction of sanctions,” he added.
“The real message is that the Scottish Welfare Fund, run by local authorities that refer people to food banks, has problems that could be addressed by the Scottish Government,” said Mr Johnstone.
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