Families will be forced out of the borough by impending welfare reforms, Kingston Foodbank has warned.

Charities that meet people at crisis point will have to work with Kingston Council – which has seen its funding slashed since 2010 as benefit payments were also reduced – and other agencies to mitigate the impact and teach people to manage their income better, foodbank organiser Paul Pickhaver said.

Meanwhile, charity Shelter said that two-child families in London would be hit by a new, lower cap on benefits of £23,000.

Much of the country, including most of the south-east, could become unaffordable for people on housing benefit, the group claimed.

The Government also plans to lower the income threshold at which working tax credits are withdrawn.

Mr Pickhaver said: “It will pull hundreds of Kingston families into crisis because we have high housing costs.

“It’s not just people on benefits. Sometimes it’s people in work who are getting working families tax credits.

“People will have to leave Kingston. People who were born and bred in Kingston, [who] have support networks here, will no longer be able to stay in the borough.

“The foodbank shouldn’t be seen as a part of the safety net for changes and welfare reform. We’re not part of the welfare system. We’re a local crisis support charity completely supported by local people.”

Parliament’s work and pensions select committee chairman Frank Field said the tax credit changes would take money from “strivers” trying to get ahead.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “The benefit cap provides a clear incentive for people to move into work and ensures we have a welfare system that is fair for those who need it and those who pay for it.”

Writing in the Guardian newspaper, Chancellor George Osborne said: “These reforms are a central part of a new contract for Britain between business, the public and the state.

“We are saying to working people – our new national living wage will ensure you get a decent day’s pay, but there are going to be fewer taxpayer-funded benefits.”

 

Earlier this year, Kingston became one of three areas to pilot a new energy voucher scheme run by food banks and German-owned Npower, one of the UK's big six energy providers.

Since April, more than 200 £49 vouchers have been given out, helping 526 people with gas and electricity bills when their income falls short.

Alison Inglis-Jones, from the Trussell Trust charity, of which Kingston Foodbank is part, said: “Over the next 12 to 18 months, there’s going to be an increasing need to choose between heating and eating.

“With the partnership with Npower, those choices don’t need to be made. What we will continue to report is what we see on the ground.”

Surrey Comet:

Matt Cole from Npower and Alison Inglis-Jones from the Trussell Trust

Elvis Harman, 50, has chronic sleep apnoea, which means he cannot work in his previous trade of floor sanding and antique restoration.

He said: “The vouchers have really looked after me for the last three or four months.

“I stop breathing at night and I'm tossing and turning. I don't sleep very well. I don't want to use machinery because I fall asleep.”

Matt Cole, Npower's domestic policy chief, said: “What we've seen from the pilot so far is there's an absolute need.

“People who need help often don’t get it because they don’t know it’s available.”

The vouchers are funded from small balances left over when Npower customers switch provider.

Mr Cole added: “It’s that £50 there and the £2 here.”

Surrey Comet: