Hundreds of penniless benefit claimants who qualify for a short-term financial loan to tide them over until their first payment arrives are being told by jobcentre officials to ask for food parcels at local council welfare offices.

Several authorities have protested to ministers that jobcentres are refusing to advertise the availability of short-term benefit advances to claimants, but are instead "passing the buck" to local authority crisis support schemes, some of which rely on charity handouts.

Newcastle city council said that between 80% and 90% of the calls to its new crisis help scheme were from claimants who required a short-term advance, but who had not been offered one or told of their existence by jobcentre advisers.

"Some people are coming to us saying 'The jobcentre sent us to you, saying you will give us food, and money for [heating] bills," said Jane Henderson, corporate revenue and exchequer manager at Newcastle City council. "We do not have cash [to give them]. What we have been doing is giving them food to last a couple of days, and signposted them to an advice worker who can sort out their payment."

Henderson said the council has had a notional £250,000 cut in the money allocated by government to its local welfare scheme. She said the demand could mean the fund – which is intended to help vulnerable people, but not to support people needing benefit advances – could rapidly run out of money. The council checked by making "mystery shopper" requests to the local jobcentre, posing as someone who would qualify for a short-term benefit advance. They found officials did not mention the existence of the loans.

The issue is said to be a national one. England's eight biggest city councils – Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Sheffield – have sent a joint letter to the Department of Work and Pensions asking why jobcentres are not issuing the loans.

Although 150 councils in England have from April opened local welfare schemes to provide crisis support for vulnerable people following the abolition of the social fund, responsibility for providing short-term benefit advances still lies with the department. The loans are repayable from future benefit payments.

But councils are concerned that guidance issued by the department to jobcentre officials says the loans "will not be externally advertised". It suggests that in principle loans should be discouraged because they "encourage dependency on the benefit system".

Nick Forbes, the leader of Newcastle city council, said: "This feels like a classic example of a government agency passing the buck to local authorities. It seems deliberate and is frankly immoral.

"Short-term benefit advances are not the responsibility of councils – we have no money for them and no means of clawing them back.

"DWP should be making these payments to people who are waiting for their benefit application to be assessed and, in the interim, have no money to buy food. It's causing further hardship to people who are already on the breadline and needs to be corrected as a matter of urgency by the DWP."

A department spokesperson said: "We're aware of a small number of complaints in the north-east since the changes were made. Because of this we have already issued staff with a reminder of the new arrangements, and we have also provided local authorities with additional information. We have spent two years working with local authorities to prepare for the changes and have been speaking to those who have raised concerns.

"Claimants who contact DWP and say they are in financial hardship whilst waiting for their first benefit payment will be considered for a short-term benefit advance if appropriate. Where claimants need short-term benefit advances, DWP is paying them."

Recipients of Newcastle's crisis support receive a basic food parcel delivered to their homes by Asda supermarket. But other councils have said they will refer crisis support applicants to local charity food banks.

On Friday, MPs on the work and pensions select committtee announced an investigation into the role of Jobcentre Plus in the reformed welfare system.

• This article was amended on 23 April 2013. The original said that recipients of Newcastle's crisis support receive a basic food parcel worth £2.50 delivered to their homes. That is the cost of the delivery, not the food parcel.