Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the sanctions system on levels of foodbank use among claimants.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not keep official statistics on foodback use as there are many reasons why people use foodbanks.

Nevertheless, as a measured safeguard The Department offers financial support to those claimants who have been sanctioned. We have a well-established system of hardship payments for claimants who cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction.