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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) civil society organisations, (b) consumer groups, (c) public health organisations and (d) local authorities on ensuring people on low incomes have adequate access to nutritionally healthy food during the covid-19 outbreak.

Defra officials are working closely with a) frontline food charities such as the Trussell Trust and FareShare; charities supporting the vulnerable such as Age UK and disabled charities; b) Citizen’s Advice Bureau; c) NHS England, Alzheimer’s Society and Kidney Care UK and d) Local Authorities and the Local Government Association; Local Resilience Forums made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, and the Environment Agency. We are also engaging with supermarkets and with distribution companies such as Brakes and Bidfoods.

We are remaining in regular contact with our stakeholders to identify the issues faced by people on low incomes in accessing nutritionally healthy food during the COVID-19 crisis, and to build intelligence in order to better inform the design of the scheme. Our regular stakeholder Forum totals 111 individuals from 62 voluntary and community sector organisations, universities and local authorities, plus representatives from DCMS, Defra, DfE, DHSC, DWP, MHCLG and the NHS.

The Secretary of State and Minister Victoria Prentis have personally engaged with the Trussell Trust. In addition, Minister Prentis has met with FareShare.