Tower Hamlets food banks left in the lurch after unannounced budget cuts
The Council, recently criticised by government inspectors for its lack of transparency, has slashed its regular supply of food deliveries to food banks across the borough without notice.
This morning, The Slice learned that food banks, community organisations, and schools across the borough of Tower Hamlets were blindsided by an extreme and indefinite reduction of their regular Tower Hamlets Food Hub deliveries.
The Tower Hamlets Food Hub (THFH) is the Council’s food delivery arm for people who cannot afford or access sufficient food. It was founded during the pandemic and has since been extended as the need for food banks continues to rise.
Each week the THFH delivers food to more than 80 voluntary and community sector organisations across the borough, including Globe Primary School, Bow Food Bank, and Al Aqsa Mosque.
The organisations then re-distribute the food, which is delivered in bulk pallets, to community members. The pallets include items such as rice, cereal, canned goods, toilet paper, and fresh produce. According to 2022 statistics from the Local Government Association, the hub feeds roughly 10,000 families a week in Tower Hamlets.
Local resident Andrea Silva, who relies on food banks weekly, told The Slice that she saw the THFH’s regular delivery for organisations across the borough arrive greatly reduced this morning.
‘Generally the whole road is full of 15 to 20 [pallets] and today there were literally four.’
When Silva went to her regular collection point at St. Matthew’s church, she said people were surprised and upset by how little food there was.
‘It was bleak,’ she said, ‘I’m recovering from cancer and I’ve got a teenager as well to top it.’ Without the food bank, Silva said she would be struggling on a weekly basis.
The hub is operated by local volunteers and is funded with a 50/50 split by the central government’s Department for Work and Pensions Household Support Fund (HSF) and the Council’s Tackling Poverty reserves.
The budget for the THFH is re-evaluated on a six-month basis by the Council and was due to be approved in September. Food is purchased by the THFH every week, using the funds made available by the Council.
Emmanuel Okot from Goldman Gardens, a community garden group that provides food to local families through the hub, said they’d also had a major reduction in food with no notice.
‘It’s hard to actually understand what’s going on,’ Okot said. ‘Normally we reach at least 15 families, today’s amount we got enough for up to ten families,’ he said. ‘Some people didn’t get the food they were relying on.’
East End Community Food Hub, City Gateway, Thread and Needle Cooperation, Shadwell Food Hub and Granby Community Hub also confirmed that their food deliveries were greatly reduced without notice.
Aleksandra Lewicka from Thread and Needle Food Hub, which supports 25 families weekly, said ‘We are deeply concerned about the recent reduction of over 50% in our Wednesday deliveries as well as the decline in the quality of the supplies provided.’
A Tower Hamlets resident named Fatiha, who relies on the Thread and Needle Food Hub said: ‘The support I’ve received from the food bank has been invaluable.’ She worried that taking care of her family would become more difficult after this week’s reduction, and said: It feels like a burden has been placed on me that I just can’t manage on my own.’
Shadwell Food Hub said: ‘It is particularly hard to accept the reduction in food we received this week compared to other weeks as we come towards winter and our users face the additional pressure of whether to eat or heat their homes.’
The Council last paused funding for the THFH in May 2024 and was criticised by the recent Best Value Inspection (BVI) for how it was handled. Inspectors have been in the Council as part of the BVI from February 2024 to May 2024.
The Council received the central government’s portion of the funds for the hubs in March 2024, and told local organisations on May 1 that the service would be paused starting May 6, because they ‘hadn’t been able to undertake the necessary governance processes which would confirm if they can apply the funding to the THFH project.’
Funding was eventually confirmed and the service did resume.
The BVI also states that: ‘The lack of notice to […] organisations around the pausing of THFH left many with little time to prepare alternative arrangements, or to have meaningful engagement with members of the community who rely on their services.’
The Slice understands that none of the organisations along the THFH’s regular route received a warning from the Council about the reduction in their regular food delivery today, nor was informed of how long the reduction will be, or if it will be permanent.
It is also unclear where the money allocated to the Tower Hamlets Food Hub in the Council’s annual budget may be diverted.
When asked for comment, the Council said:
‘We regularly review our support schemes to ensure that they continue to benefit the greatest number of people, and where appropriate that will include providing financial support directly to those residents and households in most need.
We always look at how funding can be allocated in the most effective way to benefit the most people in the borough. There is no reduction in the funding for families in need.’
Food bank demand in London and across the country is at an all-time high. Between April 2023 and March 2024, food bank charity Trussell saw their highest level increase of need, with 655,000 people using a food bank for the first time.
In the April 2023 Food Insecurity in Tower Hamlets Review, the Council reported: ‘Cost of living has been increasingly affecting more residents in the Borough which has impacted many residents ability to buy essential items including food. As a result the number of residents needing emergency food support increased rapidly, with demand for emergency food support surpassing pandemic levels over the winter.’
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