CETMA have been in London this month campaigning with over 700 other foodbanks, food pantries and other food projects to Guarantee Our Essentials!
CETMA joined with IFAN, Trussell, JRF, Feeding Britain, Your Local Pantry, and the Salvation Army to attend their joint lobby day in Westminster on Wednesday the 18th of June 2025 which brought people from all over the country together to speak to their MPs on the same day about the Guarantee Our Essentials campaign.
The guarantee out essentials campaign is focused on the need to increase Universal Credit in line with the cost of essentials.
The Essentials Guarantee would embed in our social security system the widely supported principle that, at a minimum, Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials. Developed in line with public attitude insights and focus groups, this policy would ensure everyone has a protected minimum amount of support in Universal Credit to afford essentials. It would enshrine in legislation:
- a legal minimum (the ‘Essentials Guarantee’) in Universal Credit – the standard allowance would need to at least meet this amount, and deductions (such as debt repayments to government, or because of the benefit cap) would not be allowed to reduce support below that level
- an independent process to regularly recommend the Essentials Guarantee level, based on the cost of essentials (such as food, utilities and vital household items) for the adults in a household (excluding rent and council tax).
The UK Government would be required to set the level of the Essentials Guarantee at least annually, based on the recommendation of the independent process. However, our analysis indicates that it would need to be at least £120 a week for a single adult and £205 for a couple.
Foodbank manager Orianna Evans has said “We were so honoured to join over 700 other people in making our voices heard to our MPs. People are struggling now, boosting UC in 2029 is no good, it’s now people are struggling. We see first hand on how families are struggling to afford the basics, it’s not luxury families are after it’s simply food, heating, electricity and internet, the essentials. We can only hope that this has opened they eyes of the MPs, and they will see just how important this campaign is.”
If you would like more information on the campaign and how you can help please go to https://www.trussell.org.uk/support-us/guarantee-our-essentials.
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