Council cash supporting Shropshire food banks

More than a third of local councils across Britain are setting aside money to pay for food banks helping people on the breadline, an investigation has found.

Local authorities have set aside £2.9 million of public money over the last couple of years to combat food poverty, according to the BBC's Panorama programme

It asked 375 councils in England and Wales about food banks and 323 responded. Of those, 140 said they were providing money.

Shropshire Council provides funding to county food banks through the Local Support and Prevention Fund.

Some of the county's food banks are given £2,000 up-front at the beginning of the financial year to pay for parcels they give out on the council's behalf.

The council provides other schemes with funding every month for each parcel they donate.

Callum McLagan, a spokesman for Shropshire Council, said: "The cost of each parcel varies depending on the needs of the family, their dietary requirements and the cooking facilities they have and we meet with the food banks on a monthly basis and cross check our data to ensure that they match, and that the person actually turned up."

The issue of food banks was discussed at a full council meeting last Thursday .

Councillor Mal Price, portfolio holder for strategic planning, planning housing and commissioning, said the council provides support to 11 food banks across the county, helping to hand out 650 food parcels since April last year.

He said: "When people think of food banks, you always think of inner cities and don't think it happens in rural Shropshire.

"Our thanks should go out to the organisations for the great work they do."

Councillor Price said research has suggested one of the reasons for people coming forward to ask for food parcels is delays in benefit payments being made.

There are currently 11 food banks running in the Shropshire Council area.

Councillor Price said since April 2013, the council has provided 650 food parcels at a total cost of £4,978.47.

While Telford & Wrekin Council does not donate to the town's one main food bank directly, it has made a large donation to the Crisis Network which runs the service from a base in Madeley

Russell Griffin, a spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We do not issue food parcels, this is done via the Telford Crisis Network.

"However as it was their first year of operation we gave them a grant to cover set-up and administration costs. This was for £25,000."

Similarly, Powys County Council also gave a one-off payment of £15,000 to support its food banks last year.