NEARLY one in four households in Northumberland have been affected by “food insecurity” – figures which have been branded a “scandal”.

According to the Red Cross, food insecurity is when a person is without reliable access to enough affordable, nutrious, healthy food.

Data from the Office for Health, Improvement and Disparities showed that 23 per cent of residents in Northumberland suffered from food insecurity. This works out as 73,818 people.

Cllr Scott Dickinson MBE, the leader of Northumberland Labour, criticised both the Government and the Conservative administration of Northumberland County Council following the publication of the data.

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He said: “In 2023 in a rich country it’s an absolute scandal that nearly a quarter of people living in households in our county are unable to consistently provide healthy food for themselves and their families. Something has gone badly wrong with our Government and local council and its policies that they think working people relying on food banks to get by is normal.

“For more than a decade this Government has singularly failed the people it’s supposed to be serving. In the last general election, the Tories won many seats in old Labour heartlands with the promise of levelling up and responding to the needs of those who put their faith in them at the ballot box.

“Instead what we have seen is no less than a catastrophe; suppressing wages to the extent that there has now been massive industrial unrest and a Government which refuses, until the very last moment, to even get around a table with trade unions asking for decent rates of pay, prime ministers who fly in for a short period and destabilise the economy by claiming to make the rich richer will trickle down to ordinary people.

“It’s never worked, it doesn’t work and it will never work. It’s not rocket science, but rather a total disregard for the people of this country. While the Government is trying out its various experiments on the British people it’s the people in our county who suffer.”

Responding to Cllr Dickinson’s comments, a spokesman for the Government said: “This Government is committed to eradicating poverty and we recognise the pressures of the rising cost of living which is why we have uprated benefits by 10.1 per cent as well as making an unprecedented increase to the National Living Wage this month.

“This is on top of changes already made to Universal Credit which mean claimants can keep more of their hard-earned money – a boost worth £1,000 a year on average, and we are offering even more tailored support to help working people on income-related benefits to boost their earnings.

“We are also providing record levels of direct financial support for the most vulnerable – £1,200 last year and a further £1,350 in 2023/24 – while the Household Support Fund is helping people with essential costs.”