Jobcentre officials have been ordered to stop referring penniless benefit claimants to food banks because it breaches data privacy law, in a move charities have warned will cause delays in crisis help for thousands of hungry households.
For years the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has allowed jobcentres to issue DWP-designed “signposting slips”, which allow claimants to access local food banks, many of which will not give out food parcels without a formal referral.
However, an internal DWP briefing seen by the Guardian says it will no longer issue the slips – which require the name of the claimant and brief details, such as the number of children in the household – because they amount to “inappropriate use of personal claimant data”.
Instead, new DWP signposting slips, which come into force next week, will contain just the name, address and opening time of the food bank, and none of the basic information about the claimant required by food banks to validate food parcel requests.
Food banks questioned whether the referral slips breached data laws and said the DWP’s new slips would make it harder for benefit claimants to get a food parcel.
“It’s immoral, and unethical, especially at this time when we should be making it as easy as possible for struggling people to get emergency help,” one food bank manager said.
The Trussell Trust said it had “solid” general data protection regulation (GDPR) policies in place. “When someone is referred to a food bank by a formal referral agency, all the information collected by the referral agency as part of the food bank referral process is in line with GDPR policies. Formal referral partners have data protection agreements in place with the food banks, which allows them to share the information safely,” a spokesperson said.
The move comes as the UK tips into recession, with millions of low-income households struggling with high energy and food prices, and levels of destitution rocketing, triggering soaring food bank demand. Last year, a record 3m food parcels were handed out by the Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest food bank network.
Government welfare policies administered by the DWP – including inadequate benefit levels, sanctions, and universal credit deductions and delays – are the biggest structural drivers of people using food banks.
The move is thought to make the DWP the only major public agency not to formally refer to food banks as a matter of policy. Schools, GPs, children’s centres, social services, housing associations and charities such as Citizens Advice all refer clients in emergency need.
Although some food banks do not ask for referrals, many require referral slips or vouchers as part of a screening process that shows the claimant has a genuine need for food aid. The basic client data helps them offer practical support, prevent abuse, and manage food aid demand.
In future, benefit claimants needing a food parcel must seek a referral from another accredited agency. Food banks fear claimants may not be able to access help from other agencies, or will arrive at a food bank with a new-style DWP signposting slip only to be potentially refused help.
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Gerrie Messer, the organiser at the Kingsbridge food bank in Devon, said claimants who had been able to get a referral by discreetly leaving a message on their universal credit online journal would now have to approach a school or social landlord. “Making people in crisis jump over extra hurdles [to get a food parcel] is inhumane,” she said.
The DWP said it was not its job to screen claimants for food bank slips. A spokesperson said: “Our jobcentres provide customers with guidance to find additional support when appropriate. Our signposting slips continue to provide vulnerable claimants with information on local services available to them. It is up to the discretion of food banks to whom they offer support.”
The PCS union general secretary, Fran Heathcote, representing jobcentre staff, said: “We’re disappointed that yet again our members are being asked to put themselves at a distance from some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
Sabine Goodwin, the director of the Independent Food Aid Network, said the new DWP guidance could “only add further chaos and confusion” and would put extra pressure on claimants and food banks.