Food Poverty Strategy

Opened the debate

Exactly 10 years have passed since an all-party parliamentary inquiry was launched to investigate hunger and food poverty in the UK. Despite this, household food insecurity has increased from 8% to 10% between 2019-20 and 2022-23, with larger families and those of non-white ethnicity being particularly vulnerable. The number of people relying on food banks is increasing among both employed and unemployed individuals, including staff at the Department for Work and Pensions. Food insecurity has stark health inequalities, especially in diet-related poor health. Solutions proposed include reforming deductions from benefits, abolishing the two-child limit, introducing a formal mechanism to advise on benefit levels required to safeguard households from hunger, ensuring automatic registration for eligible households for nutritional support programmes, and establishing affordable food larders and community shops.

Government Response

The Minister thanked Chris Stephens for securing the debate on food poverty strategy merits and acknowledged the complexity of addressing food insecurity across various government departments. She highlighted that food inflation has eased, with prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rising by 4% in the year to March 2023. The Government is providing £500 million additional funding to extend the household support fund and local authorities will receive an extra £421 million to support local people through the Barnett formula. She also mentioned measures such as uprating working-age benefits, childcare costs assistance, and reducing national insurance contributions for 27 million people. The focus remains on supporting individuals into work while addressing immediate financial challenges.