THERE are clear signs that the economy is improving.

House prices are rising, unemployment is falling, and companies are looking ahead with greater confidence.

The Government can point to that evidence as justification for its determined and prolonged policy of austerity.

But there is another perspective which cannot be underestimated or ignored.

More people than ever before – 900,000 in the last 12 months – are having to resort to food banks, according to the Trussell Trust.

That shocking statistic is at the heart of calls by church leaders today for the Government to take urgent action to address what appears to be a growing food crisis in Britain.

While there is undoubtedly cause for economic optimism after several years of gloom, there are also legitimate concerns about a growing gap between the haves of the country and the have nots.

For many, the safety net appears to have been pulled away by the draconian implementation of new benefit rules.

So is it the church leaders who have got it wrong – or the Government?

Is the reported 463 per cent rise in demand for food banks here in the North-East down to the welfare reform programme going too far, or is it because of greater public awareness of hand-outs?

Our region has been hit harder than most by the public sector squeeze so these are particularly important questions in this part of the world.

Something, somewhere isn’t adding up – and answers can only come from a fully independent inquiry.