Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Poverty: Food Costs

01 March 2023 · 10 other contributors · 9,391 words

Opened by Lee Anderson Reform Ashfield

Responding minister: Mark Spencer

EconomyBenefits & WelfareEnvironment

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Lee Anderson raised concerns about poverty: food costs in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Mr Lee Anderson expressed concerns about food waste and hunger in the UK, citing statistics on food production and waste.
  • Mr Anderson urged the government to teach budgeting skills and cooking from scratch to address poverty and reliance on junk food.
  • The minister acknowledged that high food prices result from various factors, including the impact of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.

Key requests to Government

Mr Anderson urged for a better understanding of poverty and advocated for teaching people budgeting skills and cooking from scratch as an alternative to providing handouts. He called for a proper food strategy in the UK to address the issues of obesity and reliance on junk food among deprived communities, suggesting that such strategies could help break the cycle of dependency.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Lee Anderson Reform Ashfield

Mr Lee Anderson expressed concerns about the paradox of food waste and hunger in the UK. He cited statistics indicating that the world produces enough food to feed 10 billion people, yet there is a reported increase in food bank use and obesity rates. Mr Anderson highlighted that the UK wastes around 10 million tonnes of food annually while households alone throw away about £13.8 billion worth of edible food per year. He also mentioned the issue of parents being unable to feed their children at home due to financial constraints, despite having access to universal credit benefits.

Other contributors (10)
  • An MP

    Challenged Lee Anderson's assertion that food banks are being abused by people who do not need them, indicating disagreement over this point.

  • Daniel Zeichner Lab Cambridge

    The rise in food poverty and the emergence of food banks is one of the most shameful consequences of Conservative Government. In 2010-11, there were only 35 Trussell Trust food banks; now there are 1,400. The issue with food poverty is a money problem: there is enough food but not everyone has enough money to access it.

  • Ian Byrne Lab Liverpool West Derby

    Emphasised the severity of food and rent costs for people living in poverty and questioned the Government's response to the national picture, stating that people are already struggling with low universal credit payments before factoring in rent. The current Government's inability to ensure everyone has enough to eat is fundamentally broken. There needs to be legislation for a right to food, and the Mayor of London's universal free school meals initiative is an essential part of ensuring basic human needs.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Commended the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward the debate, noting that large stores like Asda and Tesco already have systems in place to deal with food waste by distributing it to community groups. Food inflation in Northern Ireland has risen to 13.3%, with the cost of food rising by 25% over two months. The number of people living in absolute poverty before housing costs is approximately 223,000 and 92,000 children live in absolute poverty.

  • Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham

    Invited the hon. Gentleman to support extending free school meals to every child on universal credit based on an opinion poll by the Food Foundation, noting that over a quarter of children in his constituency live in poverty.

  • Patricia Gibson SNP North Ayrshire and Arran

    Congratulated the hon. Member on securing the debate and highlighted issues of wasted fruit due to a lack of seasonal agricultural workers, suggesting action is needed to address this issue. With inflation at 17.1%, one quarter of people are financially struggling, leading to increased reliance on food banks. More than 17 million households go without essentials, and 13% have skipped meals due to financial strain. Ms Gibson criticises the five-week wait for universal credit and the requirement to pay back benefit from what is received, driving further poverty. She argues that material poverty affects self-esteem, ambition, health, and life outcomes, and calls out insensitive MPs who lecture those struggling on low pay or universal credit.

  • Paul Maynard

    Retailers are charging extortionate prices for basic goods in convenience stores like Harrods on Grange Park estate. The cost of food is a tax on the poorest and it affects those who have no choice but to shop locally.

  • Robin Millar Lab Blyth Valley

    The speaker acknowledged the work of food bank volunteers and highlighted structural economic issues affecting food affordability, noting that price increases disproportionately affect those at the lower end of the income scale. He pointed out that businesses often focus on profit maximisation rather than nutrition or local producers, which can exacerbate food poverty.

  • Tim Farron Lib Dem Westmorland and Lonsdale

    The MP praised local food banks but raised concerns about agricultural policy changes that could harm food production. He argued for pausing the transition from the common agricultural policy to the environmental land management scheme to protect farmers and prevent a decrease in domestic food production. Asked the Minister about broken promises regarding £2.4 billion of ringfenced farm support, noting that the basic payment scheme has been withdrawn and new schemes are being taken up by only a fraction of those eligible.

  • Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem North East Fife

    Congratulated the hon. Member for securing the debate and invited him to attend the annual general meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on ending the need for food banks.

Government Response

Mark Spencer

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) on securing the debate. High food prices are a result of many different factors, including agrifood import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, the exchange rate for sterling—and not least, of course, Putin's illegal war in Ukraine and the aftershocks of the pandemic, which are having a global impact, with food prices rising at home and abroad. Other countries are experiencing high food price inflation, with 16% being recorded in the euro area in December last year. Rising food prices are a big contributor to the high levels of inflation that people are currently experiencing. However, we have seen a slight fall in the official food price inflation figures for January. We will continue to watch and monitor the situation as food price inflation continues to move around. Given the impact of high food prices, tackling inflation is the Government's No. 1 priority. We plan to more than halve inflation this year, and we are monitoring all key agricultural commodities so that we can work with the food industry to address the challenges that it faces. Low-income households are most affected by high food and energy prices, which is why we have provided a package of support to help people with rising food costs. The Government have already committed £37 billion to support households with the current exceptionally high cost of living, £1 billion of which has gone towards help with the cost of household essentials. Looking forward to April, the Government will uprate benefit rates and the state pension by 10.1%. The benefit cap levels will increase by the same amount in order to increase the number of households that can benefit from these uprating decisions. In addition, for 2023-24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in cost of living payments, which will be split in three payments of about £300 across the 2023-24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their winter fuel payment, and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefit will receive a £150 payment. The Government spend around £1 billion annually on free school meals, and protections are in place to ensure that eligible pupils keep their free school meal entitlement even if their household circumstances change. The end date for that has now been extended to March 2025. We continue to work with food retailers and producers to explore a range of measures that they can take to ensure the availability and affordability of food. In effect, we are trying to ensure that nature works hand in hand with those who produce food. We will spend £2.4 billion of taxpayers' money every year in this Parliament. If we fall short and spend only £2.3 billion this year, we will roll that forward and spend £2.5 billion next year.

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