On Wednesday in Parliament there was a session entitled Universal Credit Deductions which was organised by Chris Stephens who is a senior SNP MP. His opening words were “I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of Universal Credit deductions.” and a few moments later he corresponded to some other MPs including Jim Shannon from the DUP and his comment was “Gentleman has said. According to Newtownards Trussell Trust, “our vision is for a world where food banks, like ours, don’t need to exist.” That is what we want to see, and I know the hon. Gentleman wants the same.” The whole of the discussion can be obtained from here and the response from Chris Stephens included this statement

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for that intervention. As he knows, he has relatives of mine among his constituents in Newtownards. He is absolutely correct about our vision: we all want to see a world in which food banks do not exist. I know he is very supportive of my Food Poverty Strategy Bill, which is a private Member’s Bill that I recommend to all hon. Members.

Feeding Britain has talked to many people who are having to go hungry. In the days leading up to the debate, food banks in Brighton, Derbyshire, Leeds and High Wycombe reported speaking to individuals who all cited deductions as a key reason for referrals to them, and described some harrowing cases. For example, a client in Chichester has some £55 a week to live on after deduction of rent and other deductions for advances and loans from universal credit. The client received no prior warning or notice of the deduction, and even her work coach was unable to explain why the deduction had been made. That client is a lone parent with three children. She is worried that even if the deduction is found to be a mistake, she will be waiting until the next payment to receive the money that was deducted.