Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of food insecurity levels among households in Redditch.

Data on the number of households experiencing food insecurity by constituency is not availa-ble due to sample sizes.

Statistics on the number of individuals living in households that are food insecure by region in the UK are published annually in the “Family Resources Survey” publication in “table 9_2” of “Household food security tables” at Family Resources Survey: financial year 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK.

The latest statistics published in March 2026 are for the financial period 2024/25. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.

We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. Food poverty is a complex issue which will be best addressed through activity right across Government and, in contributing to that, DWP is developing its policy and analytical work and is making those links.

DEFRA published the Good Food Cycle in July which identified ten priority outcomes needed to build a thriving food sector while tackling a range of food related challenges. Improving food price affordability and access, in particular targeting costs that lead to food price inflation and supporting those who most need access to healthy affordable nutrition, is a key priority.

On 1 April 2026, we introduced a new Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. This fund aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities including support with food, as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis.