- Newham Council distributing the most amount of surplus food of any Council in the UK.
- New poll shows one in five lower-income Londoners have regularly or occasionally gone without food or essential items or relied on outside support
- Asian and Black Londoners, renters and Deaf and Disabled Londoners are among those most likely to be struggling
- Mayor of Newham and Mayor of London call on the Government to act and prevent a national disaster with the autumn energy price cap rise ahead
The Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, accompanied by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today urged the Government to focus on tackling the spiralling cost of living and stop this becoming a national disaster, as a new poll reveals that 20 per cent of lower-income Londoners have regularly or occasionally gone without food or essential items or relied on outside support in the last six months.
The Mayors were visiting the Newham Food Alliance, an open collaboration between partners that is part funded by Newham Council. The Newham Food Alliance reaches thousands of residents each week with food parcels, meals and other support.
For information on Newham Food alliance visit The Newham Food Alliance – Newham Council
Research by the Greater London Authority (GLA) found that the number of Londoners being hit by the rising cost of living is also going up every month, with nearly a third saying they are ‘just about managing’ and almost one in five ‘financially struggling’.
Those being hit the hardest and most likely to say they are financially struggling are Asian and Black Londoners, those with an income of less than £20,000, renters and Deaf and Disabled Londoners.
The polling, which was published today, shows:
- One in five Londoners earning less than £20,000 have regularly or occasionally gone without food or essential items or relied on outside support, with more than one in three buying less food and essentials overall, and one in 10 going without essentials.
- More than one in 10 Londoners (12 per cent) say they have regularly or occasionally been unable to buy food or essential items or relied on outside support in the last six months.
- 90 per cent of Londoners say their cost of living has increased over the last six months, with 52 per cent saying it has increased a lot.
- Nearly a third (30 per cent) of Londoners say they are ‘just about managing’ and almost one in five (19 per cent) are ‘financially struggling’.
- Nearly a third of Black Londoners (31 per cent), a quarter of Asian Londoners (24 per cent), and nearly a third of Deaf and Disabled Londoners (31 per cent) are financially struggling.
- Black Londoners are nearly three times more likely to have fallen behind on rent or mortgage bills, with Deaf and Disabled Londoners 1.7 times more likely, and Asian Londoners more than one a half times more likely.
- Paying energy bills is the top concern for Londoners (41 per cent), followed by wages not matching rising prices (31 per cent), then affording other household bills (26 per cent)
- To try to manage the increasing costs, 47 per cent of Londoners are buying cheaper products, 46 per cent are spending less on non-essentials, and 35 per cent are using less water, energy or fuel
Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, said: “In Newham, many of our families are facing catastrophic consequences because of the cost of living crisis and all the while the government remains inert. Our families are struggling to get by, with more and more needing support from our Newham Food Alliance network of food banks as well as welfare advice. In these most difficult of times, Newham’s cost of living crisis response will have to accelerate to contend with the emergency we face, and government must provide us with the money we need to stop families falling off the cliff edge.
“We are already distributing the most amount of food of any Council in the UK, highlighting how real this crisis is. Through our collaboration with The Felix Project, 50 tonnes of surplus food is being given to the most vulnerable households in Newham by our voluntary, community and faith groups, exposing the reality of the crisis that households in our borough face. Instead of healthy and nutritious surplus food going to waste, we are using it to keep our families and children fed. The government needs to act now with urgency to give people in Newham and London a lifeline and hope.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m determined to build a better, fairer London for everyone, but the spiralling cost of living is hitting Londoners harder every single month and, with no sign of this rise in costs slowing down, I’m hugely concerned about the impact that this will have across our city.
“I’m committed to doing all I can to provide support Londoners but with increasing numbers struggling to get by and food and energy prices spiralling out of control, more urgent action is needed.
“With the prospect of a bleak winter ahead, the Government must not neglect the needs of those in our capital. Ministers must act now to help prevent this cost of living crisis becoming a national disaster.”
