FOODBANKS and homeless drop-in centres across Wiltshire say vulnerable people are being made to suffer as a result of the slow roll-out of Universal Credit.

A report from the National Audit Office stated that Universal Credit may cost more to administer than the previous system of benefits, with running costs at £699 per claim, against an ambition of £173 per claim by 2024-25.

These delays have led to people waiting longer to get paid and more people using foodbanks, such as the Salvation Army one in Chippenham.

Major Dawn McGarvey said: “In May we sent out 13 food parcels in Chippenham, that has already doubled in June and we are not even at the end of the month.

“There are real problems with the roll-out of Universal Credit. Anyone who does not have much money will struggle if they have to wait weeks and weeks to get paid.

“I don’t know why it takes so long to get sorted but from our point of view, the food parcel increase has soared.”

A report from Trussell Trust, a charity that co-ordinates the only nationwide network of food banks in the country, showed upsurges of 30 per cent in foodbank use in the six months after Universal Credit rolls out to an area, compared to 12 per cent in non-Universal Credit areas.

Barrie Dearlove, of Breakthrough Trowbridge, said “One homeless man who came to our drop-in centre had to wait eight weeks to finally get paid after being messed around. We went to the job centre to get an interview, were asked if we had information to hand that we had not been told about, had delayed interviews, were told that the man had failed to turn up to a meeting, that I went to. It is a farce.”

Emma Revie, Chief executive of Trussel Trust, said: “No one should need to turn to a foodbank. Our benefits system was built to end hunger and destitution.

“Universal Credit can and must continue that legacy, but if it is to do so we need payments to cover the cost of essentials, more support in place for groups of people most likely to need a foodbank, and debt advice to be offered to everyone moving onto the new system.

“Foodbanks have seen first-hand the impact on people faced with the unavoidable side effect of increasing debt, right at the very moment when there is little or no money coming in at all: young families facing eviction, working parents skipping meals, and single men with insecure work struggling to afford the bus fare to work.

“We’re a country that prides itself on making sure proper support is in place for each other whenever help is most needed, whether that is through our health service or benefits system – what is clear from the NAO today is that more must be done, and urgently, before Universal Credit can be seen as part of this tradition.”