Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure support is available for vulnerable people in poverty to have improved access to food banks.

Foodbanks are independent organisations and remain in control of who they provide support to and how people can access that support. However, our Work Coaches are adept at providing holistic support to customers, and use their knowledge of local provision to signpost vulnerable customers to the support they need, including Food Banks where appropriate.

From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund. This is the first ever multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support. This longer-term funding approach aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities – working with the voluntary and community sector – as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.