Petitioner: John Beattie
Status:
Closed
Date Lodged:
30 July 2015
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to provide direct funding to food banks to ensure that demand for their services can be fully met.
Summary:
22 September 2015: The Committee took evidence from John Beattie and Kevin Magee, Community Development Worker, Govan Community Development Trust. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, independent food bank operators, COSLA, a selection of local authorities and FareShare. Link to Official Report 22 September 2015
1 December 2015: The Committee agreed to defer further consideration of the petition until the Scottish Government has published the Social Justice Action Plan. Link to Official Report 1 December 2015
9 February 2016: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government. Link to Official Report 9 February 2016
1 March 2016: The Committee agreed to include the petition in its legacy paper for consideration by the Session 5 Public Petitions Committee. Link to Official Report 1 March 2016
30 June 2016: The Committee agreed to refer the petition, under Rule 15.6.2 of the Parliament's Standing Orders, to the Social Security Committee for further consideration. Link to Official Report 30 June 2016
8 September 2016: The Social Security Committee agreed to maintain a watching brief on food bank funding through the Committee’s wider work on social security. The Social Security Committee also agreed to ask the Scottish Government to keep both the Committee and the petitioner informed of its response to the Scottish Government's Independent Short Life Working Group on Food Poverty report when this is available (including a timescale for any actions planned in response).The Social Security Committee also agreed to write to the Scottish Government in relation to the Emergency Food Fund to assess the level of demand for this fund, whether it was oversubscribed and the level of support still available for food banks from the relevant organisations. Link to Official Report 8 September 2016
25 October 2018: The Social Security Committee agreed to close the petition. Link to Official Report of 25 October 2018
Written Submissions:
Food bank usage has exploded over the last five years. In our community, Govan in Glasgow, we have now reached the point where the community is struggling to meet the demand of the food banks from our fellow citizens. Despite having organised food collections and used local resources such as Sunny Govan Community Radio to contiually broadcast emergency appeals, the situation keeps getting worse. We hear of similar struggles elsewhere.
This is why we ask the Scottish Government to either 1. use money from it's underspend (estimated £145m) or 2. raise tax by 1p to collect an estimated £256m to combat food shortages in food banks to prevent our fellow citizens, many with children, from going hungry. It is estimated that £1,000 per week is required to sustain demand on Glasgow South West food bank alone. These 4 food banks so far have fed 4,745 people including 1,485 children.