Food Banks

09:30:00

I beg to move, That this House has considered the use of foodbanks. I thank the Minister for attending, and it is a great privilege to introduce this debate on food banks under your chairpersonship, Ms Vaz. I am delighted to see such a good turnout. Food banks and the alleviation of poverty in the UK are very important personally to me, and I will champion them strongly during my time in Parliament. Food banks are, sadly, an essential service for so many up and down the UK. It is sobering to remember that this is the 21st century, yet we seem to be labouring under Victorian values at times. One in five people using food banks are in employment. Anyone for any reason may find themselves needing to use a food bank. Unemployment, a sudden reduction in benefits, or an unexpected bill when household budgets are already stretched thin are some reasons why people need help from their local food bank. In my constituency, I pay tribute to the incredible work of Aberdeenshire North food bank and its incredible volunteers, who operate in Peterhead and Fraserburgh every week. It is part of the Trussell Trust network of food banks. Aberdeenshire North food bank opened in 2013 and distributed almost 10,000 parcels last year.

I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. He mentioned the Trussell Trust, which supports the largest network of food banks in the UK. The charity distributed 61,000 food parcels in 2010-11, but between April 2022 and April 2023, it distributed close to 3 million, almost a fiftyfold increase. I have food banks in my area, including the Bridging the Gap food bank operating in Glastonbury and Street, and the Milborne Port Foodshare project supplying sadly much-needed food parcels to people in my constituency. Does he agree that the necessity for such groups is a sad indictment of the levels of poverty that many people now face, and that this Government’s responsibility is to ensure that their policies do not leave people hungry?

Yes, I completely agree—I suspect that the hon. Member might have seen a copy of my speech beforehand. The Aberdeenshire North food bank also operates on the Peterhead community market garden—in partnership with Stella’s Voice—which is a community food-growing space open for all to enjoy. It aims to provide healthy produce, to build confidence and to provide valuable training opportunities. It is incredible to see the grassroots enthusiasm for the project, which I am sure will go from strength to strength over the coming years. As many of my colleagues know, it is not just food that is provided at food banks, but a powerful sense of community and much-needed support. I also pay tribute to other support services locally, notably the Food Larder in Fraserburgh, which is run under the auspices of the local community council.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. In my constituency, food banks operate in every major town, including Moray Food Plus and the Badenoch & Strathspey Food Hub. Over and above that, we have community halls offering food hubs and a clothing bank for school clothing, and they provide cross-referral to the other organisations. There are many churches and other organisations all providing a basic food service to literally thousands of people in a single constituency, and this is replicated throughout the UK. Does my hon. Friend agree that this is basically about choices? In Scotland, the Scottish Government have chosen to provide the child payment for every child, and that is a substantial amount of money every single week, but the choices that have been made here in Westminster include removing the winter fuel payment from so many people.

I agree with my hon. Friend. Poverty can be an incredibly isolating experience, with people becoming more and more withdrawn as money weighs heavily on their mind in all waking hours.

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this important and timely debate. I am sure he would agree that the recent damning data on poverty from the Social Metrics Commission is both unacceptable and unjustifiable. Ours is the sixth richest economy in the world but a quarter of the UK population—16 million people—live in poverty. The statistics are alarming but, according to the End Child Poverty coalition, the quickest and easiest way to relieve these increasing problems is to remove the two-child cap. Does he agree that the Government need to remove the cap sooner rather than later?

The hon. Member makes a powerful point; I completely agree, and I will refer to that later. A quick chat with a volunteer can provide vital reassurance to those who need to use a food bank that they are not alone and that support is out there. I would like to share some brief testimony from those who have used the Aberdeenshire North food bank. One person said: “The volunteers were fantastic, offering a chat and a shoulder to cry on. I suffer from depression as well and without the foodbank I don’t think I would be here today”. That was from a former police officer who suffered delays to his employment support allowance and incurred significant costs associated with his transport. A local single parent who was forced to reduce her working hours after her child fell ill said: “The people at the foodbank were wonderful, they understood and saved us.”

I represent Salisbury, where the Trussell Trust was founded. The hon. Gentleman is making an important point about the fact that the people who use food banks have many dimensions to their poverty. It is important that we address that, rather than believing that just by giving more food, we are doing people a true service in the long term. Ten years ago, the all-party parliamentary group on food banks looked at the deeper causes and how to build stronger foundations to stop people having to use food banks repeatedly. Does he agree that we should look at that now?

Yes, I agree, and I thank the right hon. Member, who is obviously well informed in these matters. The generosity and kindness of food bank volunteers cannot be overstated. I impress on listeners to this debate that all the services and support from volunteers at food banks across the country are provided out of the kindness of their hearts and through the sacrifice of their free time. This hour and a half debate seems a small tribute in comparison with their efforts. As demand surged for food poverty support during the covid pandemic, volunteers across the country answered the call. There was a massive increase in voluntary work and community spirit. Volunteers are a great credit not just to their local communities, but to the nation as a whole. I am taken aback by the volume of local organisations that work with and support the Aberdeenshire North food bank. Supermarkets, schools, businesses, medical practices and community groups, such as my local rotary club, come together all year round to support those who need it. That is truly inspiring. I also pay tribute to the referral organisations across the constituency. They often take a proactive and caring approach when they think that someone may be struggling. Although it is often a difficult conversation for both the referrer and the referee, it can lead to families being provided with much-needed food and invaluable support. The scale of the operation involved, with so many nationwide and local charities working together to support the most vulnerable and provide nutritious food to families, is simply incredible. It is a massive volunteering operation from start to finish. Deliveries from volunteer drivers are received by volunteers at locations in community buildings, for example, that let out their premises to allow food banks to exist in a central location, where they sort donations and distribute parcels. Fundraising is also an important and year-long part of food banks’ operation. The funds go directly to maintaining the excellent service provided by the food bank. When transport links, even where they are available, are often long and costly, it is heartening to know that home deliveries are also provided in some cases. Last week, the hon. Member for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck) kindly sponsored an event involving representatives from Sustainable Food Places, a network that brings together food partnerships from across the UK that support healthy and sustainable food. In my constituency, Sustainable Food Places partners with Fair Food Aberdeenshire. Their services are a great help to those in need. They provide a food directory, allowing members of the public to see organisations in their area and across Aberdeenshire that provide help and support. That can be in the form of referrals and community larders and by sharing details of food outlets that offer reduced prices for children, allowing parents to get free food for their children when out and about. The transformative impact of support provided by such organisations across Scotland, in particular, cannot be understated. A recent survey of residents that utilise support from the Good Food Scotland network of larders in Glasgow found that 61% are eating more fresh fruit and vegetables; 64% are able to cook more balanced meals at home; 35% have less need for food banks; and 63% describe higher levels of wellbeing. An average of £15 is saved per visit on groceries. The timing of this debate as the months get colder—perhaps today is a good example—should be noted. Energy usage and associated costs will go up for families across the UK, and many will be worrying at home and at work right now about how to heat their home, afford food and give gifts to their friends and family this festive season. I will now discuss food banks more generally in the UK and the measures that could be taken to reduce the need for them. Food banks have become a common feature across the UK—a stark symbol of the scale of food poverty across the country. The Trussell Trust, which operates the largest network of food banks in the UK, reported distributing 3.12 million emergency food parcels in 2023-24. That represents a 94% increase from just five years prior. That should give us all pause for concern and spur us into the actions that I will describe shortly. However, it should be noted that although the Trussell Trust is the largest food bank in the UK, it does not encompass all food banks. Therefore, the figure of 3.12 million emergency food parcels being delivered is likely to be even higher when we factor in the work done by others. The escalating cost of living is a major driver in this worrying trend, with food prices experiencing a 19.1% surge in the year up to March 2023. That has undeniably fuelled the crisis. When food poverty is described as “household food insecurity”, 2022-23 figures show that the UK saw a startling 11% of its population—over 7.2 million individuals—in that category, grappling with food insecurity every day. That is a significant jump of 2.5 million from the previous year. Children bear a disproportionate burden, with 17% experiencing food insecurity, highlighting the vulnerability of our little ones. Health issues, unemployment cuts and delays to benefits are issues that I have already mentioned. Food banks were intended as a temporary measure to provide emergency food aid, and they are a stopgap measure rather than a long-term solution. And here is the crunch: we need measures to reduce or even eliminate the need for food banks in the UK. First, we need an essentials guarantee. Supported by the Trussell Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, that would ensure that social security payments never fall below the amount needed to afford the essentials to live, including household bills, food and transportation. Secondly, a robust social safety net is needed. That encompasses policy suggestions such as implementing a statutory living wage and dismantling austerity measures that have disproportionately impacted low-income households. Reforms to the benefits system, particularly addressing benefit delays, sanctions and the five-week waiting period for universal credit payments, are crucial elements. Thirdly, the upcoming review into universal credit is a golden opportunity to realise important improvements that can be made, and I have mentioned those. The UK Government need to fully seize the opportunity to deliver on their manifesto commitment to abolish the need for people to turn to emergency food to survive. Fourthly, strengthening the nutritional safety net for children and young people is necessary. That includes proposals such as automatic enrolment of eligible children for free school meals, as well as expanding eligibility criteria for the programme. Holiday programmes ensuring children’s access to food during school breaks are also in need of support. Ensuring that children get the healthy food they need, especially over holiday periods, is paramount. Fifthly, we need to empower local communities. Another policy that could be explored is bolstering local safety nets through the development and expansion of dignified food aid models and moving beyond the traditional charity model. The models include affordable food clubs, social supermarkets and community kitchens offering choice and fostering a sense of community. The Scottish Government have introduced many policies that have gone a long way to reducing food poverty in Scotland: the best start grant and best start foods, the Scottish child payment, which is described by charities as a game changer, child benefit, free school meals, free transport for under-22s, the school clothing grant, education maintenance allowance, child disability payment and adult disability payment. Even policies that do not directly provide financial support for food provision can still indirectly reduce food poverty by giving households more breathing room and the ability to dedicate more money to buying healthy food. In Scotland we have the Scottish welfare fund, and I believe that in England there is a similar fund called the household support fund. The problem with the latter is that it does not have a strategic drive or intent; it is simply funding that is given to local councils, which are allowed to distribute it as they wish. Central Government strategy is vital. A future policy being discussed in Scotland is a social tariff for the most vulnerable, such as those on low incomes, the elderly and the disabled. Reduced energy costs for the most vulnerable in society could be transformative on poverty and would avoid people choosing between heating and eating. I pay tribute to the work of the all-party parliamentary group on ending the need for food banks. I encourage all Members who are present but are not members of the group to consider joining. I thank hon. Members for attending the debate; I know that the continuing use of food banks troubles us all deeply and creates huge concern across the UK and in Government. I look forward to hearing contributions from Members and learning more about the incredible work done by food banks in their constituencies. Finally, I echo an expression used by my party colleague Richard Thomson, the former Member for Gordon. He said that “it is often in the worst of circumstances that we find the best of ourselves.”—[Official Report, 2 May 2024; Vol. 749, c. 215WH.]

Order. As right hon. and hon. Members can see, quite a number of people want to speak. I do not really want to impose a formal time limit, so I suggest an informal limit of one minute and a half. I will see how the first two speeches go and then take it from there, because I want all Members to get in.

09:47:00

This is an important debate, and I acknowledge the efforts made by the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan). The number of attendees is a testament to the importance of the debate. I just wonder whether the Government have taken account of some of the concerns about the expansion and continuation of poverty. Even with the increase in benefits in the past few years, it appears that there has been a massive increase in poverty, particularly among families with children, as the hon. Member alluded to. It is not just that children have insufficient food to eat, but that even when they do get food it is unhealthy, and we have seen childhood obesity levels increase as a result. A series of factors has to be addressed to deal with this problem. I draw attention to the work of faith-based groups. None of them acts out of any selfish interest; they simply put the gospel message into practice by trying to reach communities that otherwise would not be reached. We should all give them our support and commend them, as we do other groups. We look to the Government to cut through and to lessen the dependency on and need for people to access food banks. I very much hope—but doubt—that we will get to the point at which there is no need whatever for any food banks, but we need to minimise the dependency on them and the need for them in communities.

Order. To correct what I said, the limit is two and a half minutes, and then we will reduce it to two. I hope to call the Lib Dem spokesperson at 10.28 am.

09:49:00

It is a pleasure to contribute to this important debate under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing it. As a few Members have highlighted, and as I continually hear on the doorsteps and during surgeries in my Derby South constituency, the use of food banks is unfortunately on the rise, which is a damning indictment of political choices that have failed to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. As we have heard, the Trussell Trust estimates that 3.12 million people in the UK used a food bank in 2023-24, compared with just under 26,000 in 2008-09. Food bank teams make an extraordinary contribution to addressing the nation’s food insecurity crisis, and those in Derby are no exception. Volunteers in charities such as the Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance work tirelessly to support those in need, in partnership with Community Action Derby and other organisations. In total, about 14 food or meal-based charities work in and around Derby, providing personalised support. Last year, they gave more than 20,000 food parcels to families across Derby. However, there is only so much work that those amazing organisations can do. Poverty and food insecurity are deeply intertwined, and there are clear links to austerity measures. Changes to the welfare system, including delays and reductions introduced during the Tory-led austerity era, marked the beginning of a dramatic rise in food bank reliance. That is not just my view: it is grounded in evidence. A systematic review by researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Liverpool directly ties austerity policies to food insecurity and the rise in food banks. So what can be done? The scale of the problem is immense, but the Labour Government are already taking meaningful steps to addressing it. Children should not bear the brunt of a failed system. They should not go to school hungry. That is why I am proud to support the Government’s commitment to invest more than £30 million in the roll-out of free breakfast clubs next year. That will make a considerable difference to those young children’s lives and opportunities, but more can always be done. I welcome the Government’s approach to ensuring that we have a level playing field, taking down barriers to opportunity and supporting young families.

09:52:00

I commend the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for leading today’s debate and giving us all an opportunity discuss this issue. Christmas is the time of year when we think of those who are struggling and need support. I do not hesitate to say that, year after year, our food banks are pillars for such people in the local community, so it is really good to be here to discuss them. I cannot continue without putting on the record my sincere thanks to the volunteers who go above and beyond to support people who are struggling across the United Kingdom. I have a fantastic relationship with the local food banks in my constituency of Strangford. The first Trussell Trust food bank in Northern Ireland was in Newtownards in my constituency—my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) referred to it—and it has built up a marvellous relationship with the local churches. It brought all the churches together in the best ecumenical way. It fed into that process, and its volunteers have helped so many people. If Members are free tomorrow between 9.30 am and 12 noon, Trussell Trust members will be in Parliament Square. There is another thing happening today that would have clashed with that event, so it will be put on tomorrow. In my constituency of Strangford, 3,064 emergency food parcels were provided between April 2023 and March 2024—a 57% increase. That included 1,284 for children—a 52% increase. Some 79% of the UK public agree that poverty in this country is a massive problem and that it is the Government’s responsibility to change that. We look to the Minister and the Government to bring about those changes. Whether we are in government or not, it is important that we do that. Food banks bring out the best in people. I see that in the people working in food banks who participate, contribute and help along the way. By April 2023, food inflation had risen by 19%, and it remained above 10% for much of the year. More than 200,000 people face hunger and hardship in Northern Ireland, including 130,000 working-age adults, 12,000 pensioners and 62,000 children. That gives an idea of what food banks do and how they reach out. In Northern Ireland, 25% of families in part-time work face hunger and hardship, as do 39% of people and families across the UK on universal credit. I imagine that the figure of 12,000 pensioners facing hunger and hardship will only increase this year. There are pensioners out there who depend on the winter fuel payment to keep them warm through the winter. All we can do is hope that they do not face the decision whether to heat their homes or put food on the table. Lastly, social security changes can bring help at the bedrock level by supporting those in most need, including by supporting those on the breadline with essentials. I hope that our Government and our Minister will do what they can to ensure that families do not struggle. I ask the Minister to consider meeting representatives from Northern Ireland to understand the full scale of the issue and see what more we can do to support those on the brink of poverty. If she is free tomorrow, I will see her at half 9 in the square.

09:55:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this important debate. Most people assume that Cheltenham, the town I represent, is a well-heeled sort of place. The impression many people have is of grand Regency terraces, beautiful architecture and the prosperity that comes with excellent schools and a thriving cyber-security sector, but I regret to tell hon. Members that that is not the whole story. Large sections of our population struggle. In swathes of Cheltenham, people live in poverty, providing demand for six food banks. I am told that every week in Cheltenham about 550 households access a food bank or food pantry. That is thousands of people. In 2023-24 there were 1,068 households accessing a food bank or food pantry for the first time ever. During that year, more than 8,000 people were, at one point or another, in receipt of a food parcel. That is in Cheltenham, a prosperous town. In the current financial year, the local council has allocated £45,240 to support those food banks, supported by charitable donations made by generous Cheltenham people. When I visited the food pantries and spoke to staff and customers, the picture I found was one of people who simply want to get on in life. None of them wants to be at a food bank, but circumstances—nearly always beyond their control—have led them to that point. They are united in wanting nothing more than fairness. There are some very practical steps that could be taken to achieve that fairness. First, lifting the two-child benefit cap would remove hundreds of thousands of children from poverty at a single stroke. If that were done alongside the expansion of free school meals to all children in poverty, the impact could be extremely powerful. We also need reform of universal credit. All those measures would mean fewer children turning up at school hungry. They would mean fewer children arriving home from school hungry. They would mean fewer families desperately trying to make ends meet by using food banks, and fewer pensioners being forced to do the same. This is all very achievable. All we need to do is work within the systems that already exist and show the kindness and compassion that lies within all of us. On the subject of kindness and compassion, I will finish by paying tribute to the brilliant local people in Cheltenham working at facilities that help people who cannot pay their bills. There are too many to name them all, but I will mention two: Faith Rooke-Matthews in Springbank and Alison Hutson at the Cornerstone centre. We thank them and their colleagues for all they do.

09:58:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this important debate. Food bank use is on the rise across my constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove. Local food banks and food pantries include the Kidsgrove Rotary food hub, the Hubb Foundation, the Community Grocery in Burslem, the Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme food banks and those offered by many faith groups and community groups. Collectively they work incredibly hard, but they have all seen a significant increase in demand. I warmly welcome this Government’s commitment to lifting families out of poverty. The roll-out of breakfast clubs in primary schools will help our youngest to have the best start in life. I was pleased to see in the Budget the increase in the national living wage, putting an extra £1,400 in the pocket of thousands of residents across my constituency. However, I worry about the immediate problem of the sustainability of our services, given the very high levels of demand. A recent review into food poverty by scrutiny members at Stoke-on-Trent city council has found that demand for emergency parcels of food in Stoke-on-Trent is nearly five times higher than typical levels across England. Last year, the Stoke-on-Trent food bank alone supported nearly 20,000 residents. I ask the Minister to meet me and my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner), for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell) and for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) to discuss the increase in local demand for support and food. We are on the frontline of the cost of living crisis. While this Labour Government are starting to make life better for people, I want the Minister to understand the real difficulties that constituents face across Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove. This debate is not only about food. It is about decency, respect and the kind of country that we want to live in. I am determined to do all I can as the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove to make life better for the residents of my area.

10:00:00

I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for his passionate and articulate contribution. In Salford, we have some amazing and dedicated people running food banks and networks, but they should not need to exist. Charities and good people should not have to step in to provide for the most fundamental human need in one of the richest economies in the world. We know the cause of this crisis: 14 years of austerity-driven spending cuts, labour market casualisation and welfare reform, hammering the poorest and most vulnerable. Today, there are millions of children across our country who are going to bed hungry. A previous Chancellor, Gordon Brown, who championed the eradication of child poverty, understood the policy-driven agenda of the previous Government. He said: Since 2010, you’ve had the two-child rule. You’ve had the benefit cap. You’ve had Housing Benefit limits imposed. You’ve had this series of deductions which have become very widespread so that half of the people receiving benefits were having deductions. So, at every point, plus the freezing of benefits including child benefit, you’ve got people being made worse off. During his time in government, ending child poverty was a key mission. He believed that it was possible in his lifetime, and frankly it still is. I welcome the Minister’s hard work on this issue and I know she agrees wholeheartedly. The Government’s child poverty taskforce is welcome and so too is the strengthening of workplace and trade union rights. These initiatives will take time, and there are immediate actions that charities are strongly encouraging the Government to take. That includes ending the two-child limit and developing a long-term scheme and funding settlement for local crisis support after the current household support fund ends. It also includes implementing an essentials guarantee that would introduce a protected minimum floor in universal credit, to ensure that families facing hardship do not go without essentials such as food and fuel. It includes extending free school meals to all primary-school children and setting out plans to address holiday hunger after the latest funding for the holiday activities and food programme ends. Ultimately, we need to recognise that regular daily access to affordable, safe and nutritious food should neither be a charitable act nor a luxury but a basic right.

10:03:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for introducing this critical debate. I have no doubt that everyone in the Chamber agrees that it is scandalous that people are forced to go to food banks to ensure they do not go hungry. Two decades ago, it was almost unthinkable that we would see soaring levels of food insecurity and food poverty in our communities. However, as we have just heard, 14 years of austerity and economic chaos have pushed more people into hardship. In my constituency of Bathgate and Linlithgow, we have seen a 77% increase in reliance on food banks over the past five years. That means that stomachs rumble through school lessons and that children have increased vulnerability to illness and fatigue, coupled with inescapable stress about where the next meal is coming from. My thanks to West Lothian and Falkirk food banks and to West Lothian food network for the sterling work they do in providing empathetic and compassionate support to those in need. Eliminating the need for food banks is about more than charity or words. It is about choices, decisions and actions—having the political will to tackle the drivers of inequality. The Labour Government have already got to work, with wage rises to ensure that the cost of living is incorporated into the lowest pay and the start of free breakfast clubs in England and Wales next year. I hope the First Minister will keep to that commitment in Scotland, so that children are ready to learn, free from the pangs of hunger. It is a good start, but more has to be done and the Scottish Government have a key role to play. They have received £41 million as a result of the Labour Government’s additional funding to the household support fund, and as yet, that has not been allocated to support those households most in need. Demand for the Scottish welfare fund has soared in recent years without any uplift to meet the increased need. The provision of free school meals for P6s and P7s has been kicked into the long grass again, although that would enable parents to have more money in their pockets. There is much more that has to be done: all Governments must work together and strive for a society in which people can live with dignity and free from the scourge of hunger, which should have no place in our society today.

10:05:00

I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this important debate. The work that food banks do is invaluable. I would like to thank all the dedicated volunteers in my constituency of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe who run food banks—they do tremendous work across our communities. There is PANTRY food bank in Pontardawe. There are food banks in Brecon, Knighton and Presteigne, Llandrindod Wells, Rhayader, Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, all of which provide vital support to people in our communities and help those in need. That need is growing across Wales. Food-bank parcel distribution has increased by 77% since 2018. An estimated 6% of households in Wales accessed food aid last year, and one in four households in Wales are either eating smaller meals or skipping meals altogether. In Wales, child poverty rates are significantly worse than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. In my own region, a staggering one third of children in Neath Port Talbot council and 20% in Powys live in absolute poverty. These high child poverty rates have remained stubbornly high across Wales, moving barely at all since the early 2000s. That can only represent a failure of policy and political will across successive Governments on both sides of the M4. Volunteers often say that, although the work they do is valuable, food banks should not need to exist at all. They exist due to our state’s failure to address poverty within our communities, and are needed to support adequately those struggling to make ends meet. Tackling food poverty requires a cross-sector approach. Rising energy and housing costs are pushing more and more people into poverty. The cost of energy itself makes producing food in this country even more expensive. In Wales, we urgently need more investment and well-paying jobs should be brought back in deprived areas. Former mining communities, such as those in the south of my constituency, are still waiting for new industries to arrive. The new Government cannot afford to continue to make the mistakes of the past. We cannot end up in a situation in which the same number, or even more, children are relying on food banks in 10 years’ time. We will continue to hold this Government, as well as those in the devolved Parliaments, to account to ensure that that is not the case.

Order. I have to reduce the time limit to two minutes.

10:08:00

That is pressure, Ms Vaz; It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this debate. Every Member wants to reduce the number of people relying on food banks and to tackle poverty effectively. I am surprised that the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East chose to reference so many devolved policy areas—he made clear in his point of order in the Chamber yesterday that he does not believe that such behaviour belongs in Parliament. I shall begin by thanking the 200 volunteers who operate the Dunfermline food bank in my constituency. It has one site in Dunfermline itself and four satellite sites around the area. It is led by the fantastic Sandra, whom I was delighted to meet over the summer. I spoke to Sandra again this week and asked her for an update. She said that, in the year from April ’23 to March ’24, the Dunfermline food bank fed just under 9,000 people, approximately one third of whom were children. The Government have already delivered a genuine living wage in Scotland, meaning a pay rise for more than 200,000 of the lowest-paid Scots and £3.4 billion of extra funding for Scotland. The question now for the SNP is: how will they spend that? There are no hiding places. Will they carry on as they have to date, scrapping the fuel insecurity fund from £30 million to zero, cutting and scrapping the parental transition fund, and driving more people towards food banks? I genuinely hope that the SNP take action in their budget in December to tackle poverty, and I truly hope that they are successful, but the warning signs are not positive. Groups such as the Poverty and Inequality Commission and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have said that we are running out of ways to stress the need for rapid action from the Scottish Government. Food banks and the Trussell Trust have told us that the cap on universal credit deductions is one of the main things pushing people towards food bank use. That is why I am delighted that the Budget last month reduced the cap from 25% to 15%. Is this the limit of what the Government and I want to achieve? Absolutely not, but the Budget set a clear direction and showed the priorities of the Labour Government. I will return to Sandra, who said to me: “I am the only person who wants to see my job eliminated. I want to be out of a job, because it would mean we have successfully ended the need for food banks in this country.”

10:10:00

May I say what an honour it is to speak under your stewardship, Ms Vaz? I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this vital debate. Echoing my fellow Members’ sentiments, the need for food banks is unacceptable, but those who donate to them and run them provide testimony of our country’s unity, compassion and kindness. I will mention a few in my constituency: Goldhill adventure playground, Wesley Hall pantry, which is very close to the house I grew up in—the queue goes past my house now, unfortunately—the Eyre Monsell club for young people, and a Sikh community charity called Midland Langar Seva Society, which does incredible work in a church serving all members of the community regardless of faith. Their work, however, should not be needed. We are the sixth-richest nation in the world, and we have millions using our food banks. The situation will only get worse, according to the Trussell Trust, with a record 9.3 million people, including one in five children, facing hunger and hardship. That is 4 million more than five years ago. I will briefly touch on a few points that we need to address. First, as mentioned by the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson), we must remove the myth that those using food banks are somehow deserving of it. Having employment is not a reliable route out of hardship, as 58% of people facing hunger and hardship live in families in which at least one person is working. Secondly, food banks are used disproportionately by people with disabilities. Twenty-six per cent of the UK’s population suffers from some form of disability, whether mental health or physical disability, but 69% of those referred to the Trussell Trust’s food banks are disabled. Among the main reasons cited for that is a lack of information about entitlements; difficulties in claiming and sustaining benefits such as the personal independence payment; insufficient income from the benefits once people receive them; and further reductions due to sanctions cap deductions and debt. Thirdly, there is the impact on children. One of the quickest ways we can bring children out of poverty is to scrap the two-child benefit cap instantly. Finally, I have some anecdotal evidence about the increased use of food banks from those where I have volunteered. They are being used by individuals and students who are being brought in by agencies from abroad. We need to address rogue people who are bringing people in.

10:13:00

I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this vital debate. Austerity is, of course, ideologically driven. It was, in the first instance, an assault on the most vulnerable and the poorest in society. As poverty grew, we saw a decade in which the wealthiest in society accelerated away from everyone else as they enjoyed tax cuts. Obviously, gross inequality followed. Areas such as my constituency have seen industry leave and low-wage insecure employment become the norm, with rising poverty and suicide rates, and decreasing life expectancy. Austerity has ripped the soul out of Britain, and has naturally increased food bank usage. After this ideological assault on the poorest and most vulnerable, a new target was needed. This was neatly labelled as the cost of living crisis, but really it was a continuation of the degradation of working-class people. To show how things have changed, I am 42 and when I was at school, if there was a classmate who was poor, it was probably because mum and dad did not work. Nowadays, we have the creation of a new strand of society—the in-work poor. That is a situation where both mum and dad work full-time jobs but still do not have enough to put food on the table. The scale of the cost of living crisis cannot be denied—rocketing energy bills, increased food costs, wage suppression and stagnation and out-of-control inflation. Austerity and the cost of living crisis have been crises for the poorest, most vulnerable and most disadvantaged and for the working class. It is little wonder that food bank usage is what it is. The Government cannot afford to tinker around the edges when it comes to what we do—we must transform society. The welfare system, as has been mentioned, needs to be changed. Universal credit is too low. People cannot afford the basic essentials needed merely to get by and to meet their basic needs for food, heating, toiletry and accommodation costs. The decline of local councils is well documented. It is local councils that provide vital public services. England has seen local councils declare bankruptcy, and that is a realistic possibility for Scottish local authorities. Bankruptcy is the result of councils eventually buckling under the strain of rising costs and funding cuts. Now is not the time for the Government to have limited ambition.

Order. The hon. Member must conclude.

10:16:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this crucial debate. The alarming fact is that after 14 years of Tory Government, food bank use is a significant problem in every constituency in every corner of the country, as we have heard. We are lucky in Winsford, Northwich and Middlewich to have some truly dedicated volunteers keeping our food banks going. We also have charities, such as Changing Lives Together, that run no-food-waste projects which, in addition to reducing the amount of perfectly good food that is disposed of, offer people the dignity of choice while paying a small contribution towards their food. At Mid Cheshire food bank, nearly 6,600 parcels of food were distributed in the last 12 months, with 38% of them having gone to children. These are not just troubling statistics: they reflect the struggles faced by countless individuals and families in the communities I represent. They may be struggling to cope with debts, changes in their benefit entitlement, ill health, domestic violence or family breakdown. Over recent years, the previous Tory Government’s cost of living crisis has left more and more people grappling with the soaring prices of essential goods; skyrocketing energy bills have strained tight budgets; rising housing costs have burdened those who were already stretched thin, making it increasingly difficult to find safe, decent and affordable accommodation; and stagnating wages and the prevalence of insecure work have only compounded the challenges, leaving people in a perpetual state of uncertainty. This has got to change. We now have a Government in place that will prioritise the wellbeing of individuals, families and entire communities; a Government that will address the root causes of poverty and food security; and a Government that will ensure that everybody has access to fair wages, affordable housing and secure employment opportunities, thereby raising living standards and lifting people out of poverty. We must continue to strive to create a society in which every individual has access to the basic necessities and no one is forced to rely on a food bank to survive.

10:18:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this important debate forward. Food poverty—and poverty in general—is a growing crisis in the UK that demands urgent action. The increasing reliance on food banks is not only a humanitarian concern but a reflection of deeper systemic challenges that we as a society must address. We have heard the statistics from Members from all parties, and they are sobering. In 2023-24, the Trussell Trust had 1,699 food banks—a number that has only increased—and there are nearly 1,200 independent food banks across the country. I estimate that there are more than 3,000 food banks today, distributing 4 million to 5 million parcels every year. The root causes have been identified, so I will not take up time repeating them, but they include the failure of wages to keep pace with the rising cost of living and inflation, with many workers trapped in low-paid and insecure jobs; benefit cuts; delays in universal credit payments; the two-child benefit cap; and now the compounding factor of the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance. In my constituency, four out of 10 children live in poverty. The reliance on food banks is a symptom of deeper issues. It is about not just food insecurity but income insecurity. The Government must act decisively to address the root causes. I welcome the raising of the minimum wage, but it must reflect the actual cost of living. Benefits must also reflect the cost of living. A single person allowance of £85 is £25 less than is required to cover the cost of a person’s basic essentials, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The increasing use of food banks is not inevitable: it is a consequence of policy choices. The UK is the sixth-wealthiest nation in the world, and no one should go hungry in one of the world’s largest economies.

10:21:00

It is a pleasure to serve under you today, Ms Vaz, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this debate, which has been quite interesting so far. I welcome the debate, and make my contribution within the context of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Food poverty is a massive issue in the UK generally and in Scotland specifically. Like others, I want to start by thanking everyone in my constituency who is working to address food poverty. In the past few weeks, I have met people from Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre, Community for Food, Soul Food Oxgangs, Space at the Broomhouse Hub, and the Open Heavens Edinburgh church in Wester Hailes. They are all doing great work to fill empty stomachs. Members have spoken at length about the need to reform the welfare system, and I think we are in broad agreement about that issue. A key conclusion so far is about how groups in our communities, particularly faith groups, have rallied to the cause. We also have to think about the long-term causes that underlie poverty, and key to them is education. If we want to break the cycle of poverty that people inherit from their parents, we have to invest in education. Too many children, particularly in Scotland, are in an intractable situation. Education is key to improving their life chances, but poor nutrition is a barrier to their making the most of it. On top of that, the education system in Scotland is holding people back, because it is just not a priority for the Scottish Government. This is shameful, because we know that education is key to ending the cycle of poverty. And it is not just about schools: our universities are underfunded as well. University places are capped, and although Scottish students do not pay fees, the fees that Scottish universities do receive are £2,000 below what universities receive in England, and we know how stressed the situation is in England. Yes, increasing food bank use is shameful, but we have to be honest about the underlying causes of poverty. We have to accept that neither the UK Government nor the Scottish Government can be proud of their record over the last 10 or 15 years—I am disappointed that there are not more Conservative colleagues here to talk about their record—and we have to be honest about the factors that underpin poverty. We will succeed in creating a prosperous nation without poverty only if we create the conditions for good jobs, genuinely affordable housing, income security and meaningful opportunities that drive justice and give people hope.

10:23:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing this important debate. Food banks have undoubtedly become a lifeline for countless families and children across the UK, including in my own constituency of Gloucester, and I am deeply grateful for the vital work that organisations such as Gloucester food bank do in providing immediate support to those in crisis. I also wish to highlight the work of all the other charities and organisations tackling food poverty in Gloucester, including Gloucester Feed the Hungry, the Redwell Centre, Barney’s Pantry, the Community Kitchen, the Welcome Table café and Quedgeley Community Pantry, to name just a few. Until 2010, food banks were something rare that only a few families ever had to rely on, perhaps in times of extreme need or emergency, but today that is no longer the case. Last year alone, more than 3.1 million emergency food parcels were handed out. That is a disgrace. It is a disgrace that in a nation as wealthy as the UK, which has the world’s sixth-largest economy, food poverty is no longer an isolated issue. It is a growing crisis, and one that worsens each year. In 2023, 7.2 million people, including 17% of children, were living in food-insecure households. That is a tragedy and a failure of our social and economic system. There are plenty of examples of failure under the Conservative Government, but the rise in the use of food banks stands out as perhaps one of the most alarming. Austerity, benefit sanctions, the botched roll-out of universal credit, underpaid and insecure employment, and an NHS left to fail—these policies have contributed to an epidemic of food poverty and, as always, it has fallen to a Labour Government to fix the mess that the Conservatives left behind. Food banks in Gloucester provide invaluable support, offering a lifeline in times of crisis. However, the work comes at a heavy cost: volunteers and organisers are under immense pressure, with many reaching the point of exhaustion to meet growing demand. I am pleased that the Government have started to take the action necessary to make work pay, improve workers’ and renters’ rights, build more social housing, and tackle child poverty head on.

10:25:00

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. Food bank use massively increased under the last Government, and has nearly doubled since 2018-9. Of the 3.12 million emergency food parcels distributed by the Trussell Trust network in 2023-4, more than 1.14 million were for children. In June and July this year, 13.6% of households reported being food insecure, meaning that they ate less or went a day without eating because they could not access or afford food. I want to highlight the Peterborough food partnership, which helps many of my constituents in North West Cambridgeshire. In October, the partnership received the Sustainable Food Places bronze award, in recognition of its work towards increasing access to healthy food, tackling diet-related ill health, and creating a vibrant and diverse sustainable food economy. The partnership includes over 100 organisations across the area, including from the local farming community, the public sector, Peterborough city council, local food businesses and, of course, Peterborough food bank. Peterborough food bank served nearly 3,000 households in 2023, and saw a huge increase of 34% in parcels in 2023-24, compared with the previous financial year. The food bank partners with Peterborough citizens advice bureau, which has experienced an exponential increase in the number of people trying to access its services for income maximisation and debt advice, with up to 1,800 unique calls per month, of which it is able to answer only 15% to 20%, so there is a real issue there. Through the partnership working, people who attend food banks in Peterborough—including the one at CSK Hampton church in my constituency—are able to receive wraparound support from the Citizens Advice and other organisations, so that they can start to tackle the root causes of their issues, which often include debt, which is in turn caused by general poverty. I am so grateful for the work that Peterborough food bank does, alongside all the other organisations in the sustainable food partnership. I hope we can start to replicate that approach elsewhere.

I am so sorry, but Douglas McAllister has only 30 seconds. We will then move on to the wind-ups.

10:27:00

I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on securing the debate. In my constituency of West Dunbartonshire I have witnessed at first hand the devastating consequences of 14 years of Tory austerity and more than 17 years of SNP Government failure. Prior to both Governments taking office, we did not have any food banks, food trusts or food pantries in West Dunbartonshire, and it is heartbreaking that so many families there are now struggling to put food on the table. We have had to step up in West Dunbartonshire, because the SNP Scottish Government abandoned their commitment to address holiday hunger and completely removed the funding from the Summer Shine programme. It is not inevitable that food banks across our country are to be a permanent, lasting feature of our communities. Under Labour, tackling child poverty and food poverty is back where it belongs—at the heart of Government—and by 2026 it will be at the heart of both Governments.

10:28:00

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this incredibly important debate, as shown by the number of Members present. I agree with Members, who have spoken so eloquently today, that the guiding principle of the UK welfare system must be to ensure that no one is unable to meet their children’s basic needs for survival and participation in society. The social security system in this country is not working as it should, and it is driving people further into poverty and making families rely on food banks. As my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) mentioned, the Trussell Trust alone delivered 3 million food parcels this year. From speaking to food bank organisers across my constituency, it is clear that donations are down but demand is up. As the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) said, this is a failing in our country. One of the major problems driving reliance on food banks is the increasing cost of living, which has not been helped by rising costs of energy. The churches in Corsham in my constituency organise a food bank, and as they say, “There is no point having food if you do not have the energy to cook it.” That is why that food bank is now also offering fuel vouchers of up to £40 a month throughout winter for those on pay-as-you-go meters, but rising energy costs mean that those vouchers are being stretched further. As my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) mentioned, that is leading to child poverty. There is additional pressure on food banks during school holidays. While children are at school during the week, they are on the whole able to access free school meals, but in the school holidays, food banks are inundated with young families. On that basis, my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I find it astonishing that the Government refuse to lift the two-child benefit cap, which would lift half a million children out of poverty, as has been mentioned by hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber. By removing the cap, we would transform the lives of struggling families and help to reduce dependency on food banks. As hon. Members have said, how we treat the most vulnerable in our society says a lot about our values. Asylum seekers have not yet been mentioned. A Liberal Democrat councillor and food bank volunteer in Corsham told me this weekend that the Home Office is giving asylum seekers only £35 a week to cover food, toiletries and clothing, so many are relying on food banks to survive. I would be grateful if the Minister could outline what actions are being taken to support the most vulnerable, such as asylum seekers and children, and to alleviate their reliance on food banks.

10:32:00

I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) on bringing this debate forward. I am grateful for hon. Members’ helpful contributions, and I am happy to take interventions from hon. Members who were not able to speak if there is time. Let me first acknowledge that I agree with hon. Members who have pointed out that the existence and extent of poverty in our country is shameful. It is a source of deep shame to our country that so many people are reliant on the charity of others for essentials. Briefly, I pay tribute to the food banks in my constituency and in my former constituency of Devizes, which do such good work. I also previously worked with the Hammersmith and Fulham food bank. I echo the points made by hon. Members about the valuable work of such organisations.

I have seen extraordinary work and inspiring volunteers at the DN7 food bank, the Isle of Axholme Foodshare Project, Hatfield’s Pre-loved Uniform Bank and the Hygiene Bank Doncaster. Does the hon. Member agree that although their work is amazing, we do not want to see those banks grow on our high streets or even exist in the first place?

I am grateful for the intervention. I recognise those points and pay tribute to the hon. Member’s food banks too. Hon. Members have cited some of the facts. It is a fact that the number of parcels handed out by the Trussell Trust doubled in the last Parliament in the light of the covid crisis and the cost of living crisis, but I emphasise that we should not take food bank use as a perfect proxy for poverty, because that data is patchy and affected by the supply of food banks. There is also an important displacement effect. It is not necessarily the case that all the need identified by food banks is new need; that need might formerly have been met by other sources, such as family and friends or other community organisations. Nevertheless, the profile of food bank use tracks the state of the economy and the level of poverty in our country. We saw it spike during lockdowns, then decline and then spike again with the cost of living crisis. I am afraid that it has not really declined since: 1.4% of households have used a food bank in the last month and 3% in the last year, which are significant numbers. So what is going on? I echo the point of my right hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) about the complexity of the causes of food bank use, but we recognise the obvious point that it is ultimately down to household income. The “Hunger in the UK” report points out that the main reasons for people having problems with their household income are difficulties with benefits, as many hon. Members have mentioned; the existence of in-work poverty; and the difficulty of gaining well-paid work, particularly for disabled people and carers.

A number of constituents have written to me expressing their struggle to afford food, despite being in work, and that is not an isolated issue. In mid-2022, almost 90% of those referred to food banks in Wales were in work and had such low incomes that they were living in destitution. Does the hon. Member agree that the working poor, created by the last Government, are disgracefully reminiscent of Victorian times?

I do recognise the extent of the problem of in-work poverty and of people reliant on benefits to sustain their incomes and on additional support from the outside. I do not accept that that was a new phenomenon; in fact, I will come to the last Government’s record in a moment.

One of the last Government’s best policies was the introduction of a £20 additional uplift to universal credit during the pandemic. It stopped poverty growing in its tracks and showed the impact of increasing access to money—not to be facile—on poverty. Does the hon. Member share my hope that the Government will bring forward their review of universal credit, as promised in the Labour manifesto?

Yes, indeed; I very much look forward to that review coming along soon. Many hon. Members have mentioned the record of the last Government. I recognise the extent of low wage growth and in-work poverty that we have seen. If we look at absolute poverty, however, which is the measure that we should ultimately be looking at if we are thinking about the extent of destitution and food poverty, 1 million fewer people are in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2024 than in 2010. That includes 100,000 fewer children, 200,000 fewer pensioners, and 700,000 fewer working-age people, so the last Government made a real impact on absolute poverty. Overall, there are 1 million fewer workless households than in 2010. Much of that impact was driven by the introduction of universal credit. Those of us who worked in the social sector before 2010 might remember the labyrinthine complexity and the perverse incentives that were created by the mess of the benefit system that we inherited in 2010, which we rationalised and improved. It is also worth mentioning the enormous £100 billion cost of living package that the last Government put together in the light of the energy shock. Let us turn to what this Government are doing. The most significant policy that they have announced so far on poverty is the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment. Some 10 million pensioners will be denied that essential benefit, including 70% of disabled pensioners. That is surely not a record that hon. Members are proud of.

The shadow Minister has made a point about the Government’s difficult decision to withdraw the winter fuel payment. If he feels so strongly about it, why did his party pledge to do it in 2017?

We did not pledge to do it and we did not do it. I think it is important to have universal entitlement to essential benefits, but if there does need to be some means testing, surely it should penalise, or withdraw the payment from, only the wealthiest pensioners, not 90% as is happening under this policy. The other thing that the Government have done is impose a significant tax on employment through the national insurance rise, which they promised not to do in their manifesto. The cost of that will fall disproportionately on low-paid workers, who will see the impact of that tax in their wage packet. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which is no friend to my party, has pointed out that poverty is due to rise because of the Budget that the Chancellor has introduced. Every household type, except pensioners, will be poorer. Single-parent families will be £1,000 poorer. An average couple with children will be £1,760 poorer. Inequality will be higher. That is all the testament of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The Office for Budget Responsibility points out that real wages will fall and indeed, the Budget has caused the OBR to lower its real wage growth forecast by 0.5%. As the OBR says, the Budget shifts “real resources out of private households’ incomes in order to devote more resources to public service provision.” That might indeed be the policy that the Government want to pursue, but the effect will to be to reduce household income, as the OBR acknowledges.

Will the shadow Minister acknowledge that the OBR actually said that 90% of households will be better off under this Budget, and it is only the wealthiest 10% of households that will feel the cost, making sure that we are spreading the cost on to those shoulders that can bear it most?

As I said, I do not think that withdrawing the winter fuel payment from 10 million pensioners reflects a transfer of the burden on to those who can bear it most—nor does imposing a taxation on low-paid jobs. What shall we do about all this? I am sorry to say that I have not heard enough in the debate about what could and should be done, although I acknowledge that the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East made some suggestions—many of which I agree with, particularly around the importance of having an adequate safety net. I, too, look forward to the universal credit review that the Government are bringing forward, and I strongly agree with the focus on nutrition and empowering communities. I do not agree with the need for the essentials guarantee, although I respect that campaign. I do not think that transferring responsibility for setting benefit levels to an independent body—essentially, to an unaccountable quango—is the right way to go. The Government should be responsible for that policy, and accountable to Parliament, rather than an independent body. If we look at the drivers of food bank use as reported in “Hunger in the UK”, we need to improve the benefits system and make it quicker and easier to use. I look forward to seeing how the Government are going to improve pension credit applications to improve winter fuel payment access. We need to drive up wages again; I deprecate the introduction of taxation on wages. We need to grow our jobs market and ensure that it is easier and better for employers to take workers on and promote them—which, I am afraid to say, the Employment Rights Bill that we are anticipating will not do, given that it imposes punitive obligations on employers from day one. I am conscious that my time is almost up, so let me finish with this point. I praise the flexibility of food banks, and the human relationship that they imply: the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East talked about the powerful sense of community. A quiet revolution happened during the covid pandemic that momentarily offered a better social and economic model in which remarkable innovations, particularly around food and provision to the poorest among our neighbours, were enabled to flourish. I agree that we want food banks to be redundant, but while we have hardship they can be an important part of the mix. I pay tribute to other innovations such as social supermarkets as well. Lastly, I do not agree with the hon. Member that we need a more central strategy and direction for the household support fund. Its great value is in the innovation that it enables, and the way that it empowers local communities, which he said that he believes in, to ensure that local authorities can take responsibility for supporting their communities. That is an important innovation that was brought in by the last Government, which I supported, and I hope that it will continue.

10:43:00

It is, as ever, a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for bringing this important debate. It is testament to his judgment and to the importance of this issue that fully 20 Members of Parliament have chosen to speak; in fact, we could have gone on for hours, because of the importance of the issue. I will deal briefly with a couple of questions that were put to me in the debate. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is no longer in his place, asked if I will meet him, which of course I will. The hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) also asked that I meet the Stoke Members of Parliament to discuss the issue, which of course I will. The Lib Dems spokesperson, the hon. Member for Chippenham (Sarah Gibson), asked about asylum seekers and where they will fit in, and I will ask the Home Office Minister responsible for asylum seekers to write to her on that subject, because she raises an important point. Labour’s election-winning manifesto said: “Good work will be the foundation of our approach to tackling poverty and inequality. We will create more good jobs, reform employment support, and make work pay so that many more people benefit from the dignity and purpose of work. Labour is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty. We want to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels, which is a moral scar on our society.” And these are my words: no one in the United Kingdom should have to beg for food. Our first Budget in 14 years was a down payment on our approach to tackling poverty. As hon. Members have mentioned, we extended the household support fund for a further year, to help people currently struggling with the cost of essentials, including food. We saw a pay rise for more than 3 million lower earners, with a 6.7% increase to the national living wage, making work pay. We introduced a fair repayment rate on deductions in universal credit—a point that is very important to me—which will help about 700,000 of the poorest families with children to keep more of their universal credit. As Members have also mentioned, the roll-out of breakfast clubs and improved access to childcare will help parents have more choice in order to get better jobs. The manifesto commitment and what we saw in our first Budget explains our approach to the issue. These first steps will make a real difference to people’s lives, but the scale of the challenge is huge. Members have mentioned what has happened to emergency food help over the past five years. Ms Vaz, you and I have been around a while now, and you will remember that in 2010 the Trussell Trust distributed 61,000 emergency food parcels. Last year, it was 3.1 million. Either my maths is wrong, or that is a fiftyfold increase. I simply ask, what happened in those 14 years? I think Members have set out the case well—the combination of failed economic and social policies. In Opposition, on the Back Benches and from the Front Bench, I travelled around the country speaking to people running food banks and supporting those who needed them, to try to understand what on earth was going on with this massive increase in the need for emergency food help. Before the pandemic, my experience was that families were experiencing really significant challenges in their budgets. Post pandemic, deteriorating health has made it 10 times worse. In Government, I have spent time with many of our volunteers who are addressing the family incomes crisis that we are facing. From listening to them, I know this: not one of those volunteers wants emergency food help to go on being given in this way for ever; not one of them wants our fellow citizens to be so vulnerable; and every single food bank volunteer that I have met—a number of whom have volunteered because they needed help themselves at one stage—wants a country where people live never in destitution and always with dignity. I want to talk about children. About 800,000 children live in households in the United Kingdom that have used a food bank in the last 12 months. That is a devastating statistic. That does not just harm children today; it has a lasting effect on their life chances—their long-term health, their education and their employment outcomes. They cannot fulfil their potential if they are going to school hungry or worrying about the family at home, and we will not fulfil our potential as a country if the next generation is held back. Ensuring that every child is safe, well fed and has chances and choices in their life is not just a moral imperative, but an economic one too. It is a priority for myself and for the Secretary of State. That is why we have got the child poverty taskforce up and running, led by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions alongside the Education Secretary. We know that the causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and we are looking at all the levers we can pull to increase family incomes, reduce family costs and give our kids the best start in life. Only yesterday, we met employers, trade unions and think-tanks to discuss options to increase incomes and family resilience in low-income households. We are hearing from a very wide range of people and organisations, including those who are experiencing poverty today. That approach will inform our strategy, which will be published in the spring, but despite the dreadful inheritance and the £22 billion hole in public finances, we have not waited until next spring to help people in desperate need of support. The cost of living crisis does mean that pressure on household budgets is at an all-time high. We have seen inflation spikes, including in energy bills and the cost of shopping. Those are not luxuries that anyone can easily cut out; everyone needs a warm home and everyone needs the basics, which is why—as mentioned—within two months of taking office we announced a six-month extension to the household support fund. We have extended it again for a further year. Members have mentioned the need to consider the future of the household support fund and of crisis support. I look forward to having those conversations with Members. We will invest £1 billion, including the Barnett impact, to extend the household support fund and to maintain the discretionary housing payment fund for a further year. I know that such support is a lifeline for many, and I am grateful to all the charities and local authorities who work hard to distribute it.

On local charities, will the Minister join me in congratulating Old Kilpatrick Food Parcels, which last week was awarded the King’s award for voluntary service for 2024? That accolade recognised its outstanding work in support of communities in West Dunbartonshire, providing food and comfort.

I send my congratulations to those receiving that wonderful award in West Dunbartonshire. Well done to them. We will always need some form of crisis support. My worry is not just the consequences of day-to-day crisis, but the chronic challenge. People need an income that they can live on, and that is why in last month’s Budget the Chancellor announced that we will introduce a fair repayment rate to help households on universal credit who are having deductions made from their benefit keep more of their money to help them budget for essentials. More than 1.2 million households on universal credit will benefit from that—a reduction in the deductions cap from 25% to 15%, which is worth about £420 a year on average. As my dad used to say, “Out of debt, out of danger.” That will make a big difference for some of the poorest people in our country, but we understand that more change will still be needed. That is why we are committed, as Members have mentioned, to reviewing universal credit. I know, and Beveridge wrote in his report, that social security can only work well when we have policies for full and fulfilling employment. We have to make work pay. It is ridiculous to have a queue at the food bank door when our businesses are crying out for staff. We have millions of people locked out of work, not getting the support they need to build a better life. Alongside the reforms I have set out, therefore, we have set an ambitious long-term goal of an 80% employment rate, towards full employment. To achieve it, we have kick-started the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation. We will build a new jobs and careers service to give people proper, tailored support to help them get on in work. Our White Paper will bring forward a youth guarantee for our young people, to ensure that they are not left on the scrapheap. We will empower our local areas, towns and cities so that they can be in the lead with their work, health and skills plan. We will set out all that detail in our “Get Britain Working” White Paper shortly. I cannot wait to talk to Members and colleagues about it. I want to make one more point about making work pay. It is not enough to get people into any job; it must be a good job. In 2022, 2.3 million people lived in a household that had used a food bank in the past year, and 40% of them were living in families where at least one adult worked. That is not acceptable to me. Too many people in our country are being denied the dignity of decent and fair work. Too many are stuck in insecure jobs with unpredictable working patterns. That is why we introduced our Employment Rights Bill. I do not agree that we have to make a choice between high unemployment and poor-quality work. We will have the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation, including an end to exploitative zero-hours contracts, which often see people not just low-paid, but unsure about what pay they will get next week. That stress and instability tip people into destitution. As I said, we are also putting up the living wage, which will benefit 3 million workers and be worth £1,400 next year for the average full-time worker. In conclusion, as I have set out—and as Members know from their experiences talking to people in their constituencies—the inheritance of this Government could hardly be worse. It is not really the 3.1 million bags of shopping handed out to people in desperate need that is the problem, but the social and economic failure that that represents. We cannot accept it. Tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels is not just a manifesto commitment that we made to the British public; it is our priority every day. It is vital to all this Government’s missions to break down barriers to opportunity and to deliver economic growth, because you cannot grow a country on shaky foundations. The action we have already taken to support those most in need—to spread opportunity and make work pay—shows that we will take that challenge head-on. I look forward to working with all Members present to deliver that change.

10:56:00

I am greatly encouraged by the unanimity that has been shown today and want to thank everyone who contributed to the debate. Seeking and securing the debate, and coming here today for it, was not to criticise the legacy of the last Government, nor to attack the current Government; it was to encourage. I regret that some Members took the opportunity to make what are essentially parochial party political points. I am glad that my point of order last night did not fall on deaf ears. I hear about the child poverty taskforce and about the £30 million invested in breakfast clubs, and that is wonderful. However, what we really need is a restoration of the winter fuel payment, an end to the two-child cap, and some learning from the excellent record of the Scottish Government in relation to things like the child payment. I agree with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who spoke about the role of Churches and religious groups. As Father Ted often said, this is “an ecumenical matter”. Lastly, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation—a long-standing friend, I believe, of the Labour party, but perhaps not of the former Government—has spoken eloquently about the need for an essentials guarantee. If it is good enough for bodies like the NHS, police and armed forces, why can we not have an independent body that sets the level of payment to allow for folks’ essentials and dignity? The current level of universal credit is, I think, around £91 for a single person. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that this needs to be £120—a 30% increase. I know that will not be achieved in the first five months or first year of this Government, but I believe it is a laudable aim and I encourage the Minister to listen more closely to the essentials guarantee lobby from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. I conclude by thanking everyone for their participation today. I hope this is not the end of anything, but the beginning of a dialogue between hon. Members and the Government on this important topic. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the use of foodbanks.