Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of food banks operating (a) as of 23 January 2024 (b) in 2010.

The latest statistics show that in 2021/22, 7% (4.7m) of all individuals lived in food insecure households. For working age adults this figure was 7% (2.9m), for children it was 12% (1.7m) and for pensioners it was 1% (0.2m).

Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in the operation of foodbanks. We do not have reliable statistics on the number of foodbanks operating.