Baroness Howarth of Breckland
Main Page: Baroness Howarth of Breckland (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Howarth of Breckland's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(11 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Freud
If that sounded like jargon, I apologise. I meant that food from a food bank—the supply—is a free good, and by definition there is an almost infinite demand for a free good.
Baroness Howarth of Breckland
Given that there is so much uncertainty about the figures, the noble Baroness asked whether the Government were going to monitor this. What kind of research or monitoring can the Government undertake to be sure of the figures and the impact of the various factors?
Lord Freud
My Lords, as I said, food banks are not part of the welfare system. We have designed our welfare system to support people with advances of benefit where they require it. It is not the job of the DWP to monitor this provision, which is done on a charitable basis.