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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to provide additional financial support to foodbanks in winter 2023-2024.

The Government does not have any role in the operation of foodbanks. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations which bring people in local communities together to support one another. This is a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country.

The Government is providing over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England to support the impacts of the increase in cost of living. This funding is supporting charities and community organisations right now through the £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund. This fund is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable households, including those which deliver food.

The second strand of the package, the £25.5 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, was opened in December 2023. This scheme will support frontline charities, community organisations and social enterprises across England to improve energy efficiency and sustainability.

The scheme has two main components:

1. Independent Energy Assessment (IEA): This involves arranging an independent energy assessor to help identify energy-saving opportunities.
2. Capital Grants: Grants can be used to install capital energy efficiency measures, such as improving insulation or installing heat pumps.

Organisations can first apply for an Independent Energy Assessment. Having completed the IEA, they can then apply, if they are eligible, for a capital grant between £2,000 and £150,000 to install capital energy measures. Applications for IEAs opened in December 2023 and applications for capital funding will be open through three rounds, starting from the second half of January 2024. All capital projects will need to be completed by March 2025.

Taken together, total support over 2022/23-2024/25 to help households with the high cost of living amounts to £104 billion – an average of £3,700 per UK household.