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| Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith, the former Work and Pensions Secretary Getty |
Iain Duncan Smith’s plan to draft in job advisers to food banks across the UK appears to have been quietly shelved by his successor at the Department for Work and Pensions.
The former Work and Pensions Secretary, who announced the plan in October last year, suggested that placing DWP advisers in emergency food centres would help individuals back into work. Mr Duncan Smith added that if a trial succeeded “we think we would roll this out across the whole of the UK”.
But after the former Tory leader's dramatic resignation it appears Stephen Crabb, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, has dismissed rolling the policy out nationwide.
In a written answer to the Commons Priti Patel, the employment minister, said placing advisers in food banks would be at “local discretion”.
Asked by Owen Smith, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, whether the DWP planned on extending placing work coaches in other food banks, she added: “The decision on engagement with food banks and other local community initiatives will continue to remain at local discretion; where Jobcentre Plus is invited to work with a food bank provider and where there is local need.
“Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches undertake outreach work every day in local communities on a number of activities which includes supporting the Troubled Families Programme, homeless hostels, drug and alcohol dependency and ex-offenders. They have recently been helping people with back-to-work support and advice in Manchester at the Lalley Community Centre, where a food bank sits alongside other support services.”
Earlier this year the Employment Minister had said DWP job adviser will be embedded in “a lot more” public services.
Mr Smith told The Mirror: "Both Stephen Crabb and Iain Duncan Smith used appearances at select committees to laud the decision to place job centre staff in food banks, including in an appearance this week.
"However, it has now been revealed that the DWP has quietly given up on the national trial.
"It is a deeply depressing development that under the Tories food banks have become such a central part of so many of our communities. The numbers continue to rise, with low paid workers the fastest growing group, as food bank demand is now more than one million a year.
"If the Tories had any decency they'd concentrate on eradicating the need for food banks entirely. Instead they remain committed to yet more cuts to disabled people and low paid workers that are likely to see demand grow even further."
The policy was dealt a blow in November last year when the Trussel Trust – Britain’s largest provider of emergency food parcels – said it was “not actively considering” placing DWP staff in its centres.
In a statement the organisation added: “No Trussell Trust foodbank would ever need to worry about being forced to have a DWP advisor in a foodbank, and no Trussell Trust foodbank would be encouraged to do anything that they felt might jeopardise the non-judgemental environment our foodbanks operate in
“We have no plans to place DWP job advisers in Trussell Trust foodbanks.”
The Independent has contacted the Department for Work and Pensions for a comment.