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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to extend funding for charities to redistribute food supplies to local (a) charities and (b) community organisations.

Defra recently announced grant funding of £13.6 million in 2025/26 to increase the capacity and capability of 12 charities to redistribute surplus food from farms into charitable networks. Applications were open to not-for-profit organisations redistributing surplus food including local charities and community organisations.

The longevity of the projects formed part of the selection criteria for funding, so we expect the funding to support the redistribution of farm surplus for many years to come.