Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help improve access to affordable food for people in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Within Staffordshire, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Stoke-on-Trent Council have been selected to receive a grant of £222,000 under the Good Food Neighbourhoods programme (GFN). The GFN programme is a £10m fund to support those communities in greatest need improve access to healthy and affordable food. Alongside government funding, the programme will work with businesses, charities and philanthropy to build on existing community projects, reach more people and bring additional funding into local areas.