Lord McFall, pictured, who was Labour MP for the area from 1987 until 2010, is chairman of the Scottish Leaders Welfare Group.

The group launched last week and plans to gather evidence on the impact benefit cuts are having on the poorest in society.

Formed by Citizens Advice Scotland, it includes Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, Church of Scotland Moderator Rev John Chalmers and Grahame Smith of the Scottish Trade Union Congress.

Lord McFall said the group is a civic initiative aimed at ensuring people in poverty are treated with dignity.

He said: “One of the fundamental questions we will be asking is how we can have doubled the welfare across the country since 1984 but at that time, 30 years ago, there were no foodbanks and now we have foodbanks which one million people depend on across the UK?” Lord McFall said he had heard “graphic testimony” from people at the sharp end of the welfare reforms.

He said he had recently spoken to members of the West Dumbartonshire branch of MacMillan cancer charity and members told him financial worries were the second largest problem cancer patients said they faced, after their medical diagnosis.

He added: “At the launch at Drumchapel Citizens Advice Bureau and Drumchapel Foodbank we heard information from individuals with a personal experience of the situation and they told us that the sanctions imposed are arbitary and punitive. We were told that when people transferred from Jobseekers Allowance to Employment Support Allowance they lose their housing benefit and that can mean they don’t have money for weeks on end.

“This is about treating people with dignity.” The welfare group, which says it is non-political, also includes members of local government group Cosla and the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

Archbishop Tartaglia said claimants told him the accessing benefits is “very difficult for people who most need them”.

He added: “It is highly bureaucratic, complex and to some extent impenetrable. It is highly impersonal and anonymous.” Graeme Blount, acting secretary of the Church of Scotland’s church and society council, said they shared the same concerns.