Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to end food poverty for adults.

This Government’s current focus is on supporting people whose finances have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the £5billion increase in benefit rates from April 2020, we have injected more than £6.5 billion into the welfare system, increasing Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by over £1,000 for this financial year, benefiting over four million of the most vulnerable households. We have also increased Local Housing Allowance rates - putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets.

For those who find themselves in severe financial difficulties, the Prime Minister has announced over £60 million for local authorities in England to support local welfare assistance programmes. In addition, on 8 May, the Government announced funding of up to £16 million for charities to provide millions of meals over a 12-week period; this includes the £3.5 million Food Charities Grant Fund to support charities with grants of up to £100,000 so they can continue to provide food to vulnerable people.

Our long-term ambition remains to build an economy that will support work, and ensure that everyone have opportunities to enter and progress in work, where possible. There is clear evidence of the important role of work in tackling all forms of poverty; in 2018/19, working age adults in households where all adults were in work were 6 times less likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than adults in a household where nobody works.