Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1352090

registered interest
date	03/09/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to end the need for food banks in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
tabling member printed	Bambos Charalambous
uin	42063
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2021 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.</p><p> </p><p>This year, we are also investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has been expanded to every Local Authority across England. Participating children will benefit from a range of support, including a healthy and nutritious meal as well as fun and engaging activities covering the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021. We also increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in April, which helps eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins.</p><p> </p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. Through Plan for Jobs, the Government is investing over £33bn in measures to create, support and protect jobs. This included over £2bn investment in the Kickstart programme and an additional 13,500 Work Coaches in our Jobcentres, as well as other measures focused on boosting work search, skills and apprenticeships.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 14/09/2021 15:49:31 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4610 label Biography information for Bambos Charalambous

1346481

registered interest
date	13/07/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the suitability of local authority-run emergency food support schemes for people with special dietary requirements.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
tabling member printed	Alex Norris
uin	32495
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2021 answer text <p>Local Authorities in England have powers to run Local Welfare Assistance Schemes at their discretion, which may include emergency support. It is for Local Authorities to assess need in their area and to determine the design of any such scheme, including eligibility, access and nature of provision, giving due consideration to their duties under the Equality Act and other relevant legislation. No assessment has been made by DWP of the suitability of local authority-run emergency food support schemes for people with special dietary requirements.</p><p> </p><p>Since 1 December 2020, DWP has allocated funding to upper tier Local Authorities in England, through the Covid Winter Grant Scheme and the Covid Local Support Grant, to provide additional support to families and individuals who may be struggling with the cost of food and essential utility bills due to the pandemic. We have now extended this temporary scheme for a final time with an additional £160 million in funding between 21 June and 30 September, taking total funding under the scheme to £429 million. This brings the end date for this scheme past the lifting of restrictions, supporting families who might need additional help to get back on their feet as the vaccine rollout continues and our economy recovers. This scheme recognises that Local Authorities are best placed to understand needs in their area.</p><p> </p><p>This year, we are also investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme which has been expanded to every Local Authority across England. Participating children will benefit from a range of support, including a healthy and nutritious meal that takes into account dietary needs as well as fun and engaging activities and it is for the Local Authority who delivers the programme in their area to give due consideration to their duties under the Equality Act and other relevant legislation.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 32496 question first answered 21/07/2021 15:16:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1346482

registered interest
date	13/07/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that people with special dietary requirements are able to access appropriate emergency food support from their local authority.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
tabling member printed	Alex Norris
uin	32496
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2021 answer text <p>Local Authorities in England have powers to run Local Welfare Assistance Schemes at their discretion, which may include emergency support. It is for Local Authorities to assess need in their area and to determine the design of any such scheme, including eligibility, access and nature of provision, giving due consideration to their duties under the Equality Act and other relevant legislation. No assessment has been made by DWP of the suitability of local authority-run emergency food support schemes for people with special dietary requirements.</p><p> </p><p>Since 1 December 2020, DWP has allocated funding to upper tier Local Authorities in England, through the Covid Winter Grant Scheme and the Covid Local Support Grant, to provide additional support to families and individuals who may be struggling with the cost of food and essential utility bills due to the pandemic. We have now extended this temporary scheme for a final time with an additional £160 million in funding between 21 June and 30 September, taking total funding under the scheme to £429 million. This brings the end date for this scheme past the lifting of restrictions, supporting families who might need additional help to get back on their feet as the vaccine rollout continues and our economy recovers. This scheme recognises that Local Authorities are best placed to understand needs in their area.</p><p> </p><p>This year, we are also investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme which has been expanded to every Local Authority across England. Participating children will benefit from a range of support, including a healthy and nutritious meal that takes into account dietary needs as well as fun and engaging activities and it is for the Local Authority who delivers the programme in their area to give due consideration to their duties under the Equality Act and other relevant legislation.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 32495 question first answered 21/07/2021 15:16:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1342322

registered interest
date	30/06/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish data on the number of welfare benefit claimants who use food banks.
tabling member constituency	Edmonton
tabling member printed	Kate Osamor
uin	25107
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2021 answer text <p>Food banks are independent charitable organisations and there is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage. We take the issue of food insecurity seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20 and published the data in March this year.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, from April 2021 we introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) on food bank usage. The first results of these questions are expected to be published in March 2023 subject to usual quality assurance.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 07/07/2021 14:57:30 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4515 label Biography information for Kate Osamor

1336561

registered interest
date	15/06/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she expects to publish her Department's review of the drivers of food bank demand.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	16143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Department reallocated resources to prioritise work to help the COVID-19 effort. This caused delays to some work, including this literature review. The review summarises publicly available information and does not contain any new research carried out by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has recently published new data from the Family Resources Survey on household food security, giving us a better understanding of who is most at risk. This underlines how seriously we take the issue of food insecurity.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 21/06/2021 12:36:03 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1328085

registered interest
date	26/05/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information she holds on the number of households in (a) in Bristol West constituency and (b) the UK who used a (i) food bank, (ii) food club and (iii) similar organisation for the first time during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	7850
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>We take the issue of food insecurity seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20 and published the data in March this year. (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2019-to-2020</a>). Food insecurity data from the Family Resources survey for 20/21 is not yet available.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.</p><p> </p><p>We introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It will now run until June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p> </p><p>We are investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme which has been expanded to every local authority across England this year. Children eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals will have the option to join a holiday club programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021. We also increased the value of Healthy Start Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in April.</p><p> </p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty in all its forms. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 7852 question first answered 10/06/2021 16:36:38 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1328087

registered interest
date	26/05/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to eradicate the need for foodbanks.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	7852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of food bank usage at a constituency or national level.</p><p> </p><p>We take the issue of food insecurity seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20 and published the data in March this year. (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2019-to-2020</a>). Food insecurity data from the Family Resources survey for 20/21 is not yet available.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending an estimated £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.</p><p> </p><p>We introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It will now run until June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p> </p><p>We are investing up to £220m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme which has been expanded to every local authority across England this year. Children eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals will have the option to join a holiday club programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021. We also increased the value of Healthy Start Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in April.</p><p> </p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty in all its forms. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 7850 question first answered 10/06/2021 16:36:38 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1328126

registered interest
date	26/05/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government plans to take in response to Trussell Trust’s findings on the use of food banks by people who (a) met the Trussell Trust's definition of being destitute and (b) are disabled in its report entitled State of Hunger, published in May 2021.
tabling member constituency	Midlothian
tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
uin	7876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>This Government is wholly committed to tackling poverty. Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to support the most vulnerable including through spending an additional £7.4 billion to strengthen the welfare system, taking our total expenditure on welfare support for people of working age to an estimated £111 billion in 2020/21.</p><p> </p><p>We are spending over £57 billion during 2021/22 on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including but not limited to new style Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment. Benefits to meet the additional costs of disability were excluded from the benefit freeze which was in place from 2016 to 2020 and during that period were uprated in line with prices.</p><p> </p><p>There is clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The Government recognises the important economic contribution of disabled people in the labour market and in 2017 we set a goal to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027. DWP delivers a range of programmes to support disabled people, to stay in or move into work. These include the Work and Health Programme, Intensive Personalised Employment Support, Access to Work, Disability Confident and initiatives in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services and Individual Placement and Support.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/06/2021 15:00:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1315841

registered interest
date	18/05/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has met with food bank (a) providers and (b) user groups in developing her Department's food bank use reduction plans.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	3195
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2021 answer text <p>Ministers and officials from across Government continue to engage on this issue with a range of stakeholders and charitable organisations including food bank providers.</p><p> </p><p>This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, spending an estimated £112 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21 including around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.</p><p>We also introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to Local Authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It will now run to June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269m.</p><p>Food insecurity is an issue we take very seriously which is why we have published data on household food security from the Family Resources Survey for the first time, to get a better understanding of the lived experience of families.</p><p>As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. We are investing over £30 billion in our ambitious Plan for Jobs which is already delivering for people of all ages right across the country.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 26/05/2021 12:59:38 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1287052

registered interest
date	19/02/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Food Banks
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department concluded its internal review of the factors driving the use of food banks.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	155063
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2021 answer text <p>The Department reallocated resources to prioritise work to help the COVID-19 effort.</p><p /><p>Throughout this pandemic, this Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support to protect jobs and businesses and, for those in most need, injected billions into the welfare system. The new Covid Winter Grant Scheme builds on that support with an additional £170m for local authorities in England, to support families with children and other vulnerable people with the cost of food and essential utilities this winter.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 24/02/2021 13:40:52 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle