Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of dedicated local authority phone lines that have been set up to provide support for vulnerable people with getting access to food during the covid-19 oubreak.

The Government is working closely with local authorities in the response to Covid-19. This includes supporting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable to Covid-19 and have been advised by the Government to shield, as well as people who are vulnerable for other reasons. Local authorities are supporting with a wide range of functions including supplementing nationally provided food boxes where shielding individuals have additional support needs and providing social contact for those who are isolated.

As at 17 April, 98 per cent of local authorities had dedicated phone lines in place to provide support for the vulnerable in getting access to basic food supplies.

Local government and their Voluntary Community Sector partners are well-placed to understand and meet the needs of vulnerable people in their communities.