Re: DWP embarassment???
Ah the old "Foodbank" political schtick. Same old kidology as the Looney Labour "Homelessness" schtick.
So they're asking Jobcentres not to record their "signpostings". The vast majority of clients however are "referred" by various designated bodies including the NHS, CAB, doctors and the like.
Here's a thing.
A great many of Britain's so-called "homeless" who are 100% NOT homeless are playing the foodbank system for all it's worth.
The system is generally supposed to work via postcode areas. If a client gets a referral (voucher for a foodbank) then they are supposed to use a specific foodbank which is in the postcode area in which they reside. The referral slip designates that foodbank.
The many clients playing the system get referrals from different places and use different names and addresses in order to get vouchers for different foodbanks i.e. different postcode areas. They know exactly how the system works, and exploit its weaknesses to get repeated food parcels where really they shouldn't.
If you were recording all these referrals then the stats would be greatly over-inflated.
Some of the foodbanks are savvy to this and use computer databases to record people's details and co-operate with other foodbanks to try and stamp out the rife exploitation.
On the whole though these foodbanks are very often old people running a pretty dated service in a war on want, "Dad's Army" style. They record stuff with pen and paper and most would be clueless as to what a smart phone is.
If there is going to be any statistical data collected regarding foodbanks then it need to be done BY the foodbanks, NOT by the people issuing the referrals. That's just common sense.
The foodbanks are where the transaction occurs.
Then, if you ARE going to record data there, it needs to have the capability to centralise all the names and addresses from ALL foodbanks with some kind of intelligent reporting built in to eradicate all the duplicate and fraudulent referrals.
That really doesn't exist just now. So if you collected stats from foodbanks you'd get inflated numbers.
Doubtless Looney Labour would love that !