Boy sits in the dark so bailiffs won't know he's home, MP warns

Families are being hounded by bailiffs as unpaid council tax bills soar to hundreds of pounds which they don't have, a Labour MP warned today.

Karen Buck, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions said a "sanctions culture" was deliberately targeting those who most need support - as she vowed sweeping changes if Labour wins power.

Ms Buck spoke of one case where a 13-year-old told her he couldn't turn the lights on when he got home from school - so that bailiffs didn't know he was home.

The shadow minister, who has represented Westminster North since 1997, told a fringe debate at the Labour Party Conference: "I've dealt with people with a £25 council tax debt that turns into a £400 debt just like that.

"I remember a young mum with her two kids. Her son, who was about 13 said to me that that when he comes home from school he can't turn on the lights so that if the bailiffs are home they can pretend they're not home."

Food bank use is spiralling, the Trussell Trust has said as the cost of living crisis bites (PA)

Addressing an audience at the discussion led by foodbank charity The Trussell Trust, she said: "We shouldn't be in a country where we have to depend on the kindness of thousands and thousands of volunteers who are providing food banks this winter."

She said that under the last Labour government, a million children were lifted out of poverty, and the party would repeat this feat if it wins the next election.

"The mission of the next Labour government will be to end poverty and make sure we don't have to come back to this fringe meeting in the future."

Research published by the Trussell Trust earlier this month showed that more than two million people who receive Universal Credit skipped meals in the previous three months to meet other costs.

And 38% said they had gone a whole day without food because they couldn't afford it.

Labour MP Karen Buck told a meeting at the party conference that it will focus on tackling poverty (Tim Merry)

Ms Buck said the five week waiting time to receive benefits is sending people into crisis and "punitive" measures such as the two child limit on Child Tax Credit has piled misery on struggling families.

She said: "The situation is the result of deliberate policy choices, we've got to be absolutely clear about that."

Frank Soodeen, director of communications at the Rowntree Foundation, said: "The simple fact is that we're having to spend billions on the energy price guarantee, as badly targeted as it is, is testimony to the fact that there are millions of people in this country who live month to month and are unable to deal with turbulence."

The Trussell Trust says it is providing an emergency parcel to someone facing hardship every 13 seconds on average, and food bank use has soared by 50% compared to the period before the pandemic.