Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about the Trussell Trust report on food bank usage.
Although I do not want anyone to have to be reliant on a food bank, I am grateful to all those who volunteer their time to make sure foodbanks are provided in their local communities for people who require it in specific circumstances.
As the economy continues to recover from the pandemic, the Government is helping people move into and progress in work as quickly as possible, based on clear evidence around the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. Through the Plan for Jobs, ministers are investing over £33bn in measures to create, support and protect jobs, Plan for Jobs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) as well as supporting those most in need through a range of measures via the welfare state.
The Government is providing substantial support through the welfare system. It will spend around £276 billion through social security in Great Britain in 2023/24, including around £124 billion on people of working age and children. Following the Government’s uprating exercise, benefits and pensions have increased by 10.1 per cent, providing significant support with the cost of living to the most vulnerable. The average uplift for someone on Universal Credit will be around £600. Uprating is in addition to the increase in the National Living Wage to £10.42 an hour and the provision of more than tens of billions in cost-of-living payments.
Moreover, the Government is continuing to ensure the provision of free school meals for infants, as well as benefits-related free school meals, which are helping two million children. The Government is also investing over £200 million per year through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, Holiday activities and food programme 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), which supports disadvantaged children and their families, including by providing them with healthy food. The programme takes place across England and reached over 685,000 children during last year’s summer holidays, of which 475,000 children were receiving benefits-related free school meals.
The Government has taken steps to help the lowest-income households through these times: reducing the Universal Credit taper rate so that those in work can keep more of their money; increasing the National Living Wage; freezing fuel duty for the twelfth consecutive year; increasing benefits and pensions by 10.1%, providing more than £51 billion in support with the cost of living ensuring that all households received at least £400 and many households received up to £1650 last year and this year, it will prioritise further payments of up to £900 for those in receipt of means tested benefits, the disabled and pensioners (depending on circumstances) and committing more than £2 billion to the Household Support Fund which is specifically designed to support people with help with rising costs. I accept that the increased cost of living has been unwelcome but I do believe that the Government has responded by making available as much support as possible.
Since Ofgem’s confirmation of the first price cap rise, the Government has put forward an ambitious support package to help both lower and middle-income earners with the immediate adjustment. This includes a £400 grant for energy bills for all. Further, a non-repayable £150 cash rebate was provided for homes in Council Tax bands A-D last year, equivalent to 80 per cent of all households and £144 million of discretionary funding for local authorities to support those not eligible for the council tax rebate. This means that most families received £550 with lower income families receiving more help. The Government has continued to make these payments and this year it will provide extra one-off payments of £900 for the 8 million households on means-tested benefits - Millions of low-income households to get new Cost of Living Payments from Spring 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Government has introduced an Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) which will give people certainty with their bills until June. The EPG now applies and will discount the unit cost for gas and electricity use. This guarantee, which includes the temporary suspension of green levies, limits the amount you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. As you may be aware, the current price guarantee, set at £2,500, has been in place since 1 October and has meant that the Government has subsidised a significant amount of people's energy bills.
The Government is committed to understanding and addressing poverty, which is why it has published official estimates of food bank usage for the first time. National statistics show that 93 per cent of people were food secure in 2021/22, United Kingdom Food Security Report 2021: Theme 4: Food Security at Household Level - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Government is committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22. Further, throughout the pandemic, ministers have provided an unprecedented package of support to protect jobs and businesses and, for those in most in need, injected £352 billion into the welfare system and increased Universal Credit during the pandemic to provide immediate support.
The Government will continue to do everything it can to help those on low pay, and I pleased that the number of those living in poverty today has fallen by two million since 2010.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
