Food Price Inflation and Food Banks

Mark Spencer Excerpts

Wednesday 17th May 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries (Mark Spencer)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) for securing today’s important debate. I also pay tribute to her efforts in her constituency, and in her previous roles before joining this House.

We have seen food price inflation continue to rise. As the hon. Lady said, it was 19.2% in March 2023, up from 18.2% in February. That is the highest rate that we have seen in 45 years. I certainly recognise the impact that high food prices are having on household budgets and on tackling inflation, and this Government’s No. 1 priority is to lower—to halve—that inflationary rate this year. Yesterday, as she identified, the Prime Minister hosted the first UK Farm to Fork summit, which focused on how Government and industry can work together to bring great British food to the world, build resilience and transparency across the supply chain, strengthen sustainability and productivity, and support innovation and skills.

[Ian Byrne]

Can the Minister inform the House—my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) touched on this—whether any trade union representatives were invited to the UK Farm to Fork summit held at Downing Street yesterday? I have tabled a written question on that, but the response was not very clear.

[Mark Spencer]

I am not privy to the whole guestlist, but of course there is a limit to the capacity in No. 10 Downing Street. There are lots of people who would have liked to be there whom we were not able to accommodate. However, it was important that we drew together industry leaders—retailers, processors, and primary producers—so that they could work together on delivering innovation in the sector, and so that they could try to lower food prices and not only make our great British food producers competitive across the world, but benefit our constituents.

Following that summit, we announced a package that includes a broad range of actions to strengthen the resilience of our farming sector and drive long-term sustainability. That includes a new set of principles to protect farmers’ interests in future trade deals, more funding to help producers export, plans to reduce red tape for farmers looking to diversify their income streams, and making it easier to build glasshouses in the UK.

Last week, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury met supermarkets to discuss the cost of food, and the Chancellor is meeting them again shortly to discuss how we ensure that consumers have access to a range of affordable food, in recognition of the pressures that people and producers are feeling. We have also provided significant support this year, worth an average of £3,500 per household. That includes direct cash payments to the most vulnerable households, as well as our uprating benefits and the state pension by 10% in April.

Food banks are a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country. The Government do not have any role in the operation of food banks, as they are independent, charitable organisations that bring people in local communities together to support one another. However, recognising that good work, the Government will provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. It will be targeted at supporting critical frontline services for the most vulnerable people—services that are struggling to meet increased demand.

[Beth Winter]

The Minister has not yet addressed the idea of a windfall tax on supermarkets. Are the Government looking at that? Is the Minister saying that food banks are acceptable? That is what I took from what he just said. Surely we should be ending the use of food banks in the fifth-richest nation in the world. It is appalling that they exist.

[Mark Spencer]

I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s intervention. What I was saying was that I recognise the great work that those in food banks do. I recognise the work that the charitable sector does to support the most vulnerable. I am not saying that food banks should be the model for the future; I am saying that the great work they do should be recognised. The best way to get out of poverty should be through work and opportunities to earn a fair wage, so that people can afford to buy their own food.

[Ian Byrne]

On that point about wages, the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union found that four in 10 food workers are forced to skip meals. Over 60% of respondents to its recent survey said that wages are not high enough for them to meet their basics needs. The people who produce food cannot afford to buy and eat it. What does the Minister say to that?

[Mark Spencer]

We are slightly straying into the area of the Department for Work and Pensions and the Treasury, as the hon. Member for Cynon Valley indicated at the beginning of the debate, so I hesitate to comment too much. What I would say is that that is why the No. 1 priority of the Government is to get inflation under control. As the hon. Gentleman identified, the people who are most vulnerable and who are struggling to make ends meet are the people who are damaged by high inflation. In ’21-22, 93% of UK households were food-secure; that is virtually unchanged from’20-21, when it was also 93%. In ’21-22, 3% of individuals, or 2.1 million people, lived in households that had used a food bank in the previous 12 months.

My Department is working across Government to ensure that we have the right support in place to address rising food price inflation. More than 8 million households are eligible for means-tested benefits. Some will receive additional cost of living payments totalling up to £900 in the ’23-24 financial year. Over 99% of the first cost of living payments this year have already been made. For those who require extra support, the Government are providing an extra £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable a year-long extension of the household support fund in England from April. That is on top of what we have provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. From April 2023, we increased the national living wage by 9.7% to £10.42. That represents an increase of over £1,600 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the national living wage; estimates suggest that could help over 2 million low-paid workers.

I once again thank the hon. Member for Cynon Valley for introducing this debate. I reassure her that the Government take food prices seriously. We will continue to work across Government.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

I apologise to the Minister and the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) for missing the first 30 seconds of the debate. The Minister talked about working on a cross-departmental basis. He knows that I have asked this question before. I am very pleased to see that the Government have not taken the Home Secretary’s approach to the seasonal agricultural workers scheme and the 45,000 visas. Will we get some security and certainty about the extension of that scheme over a longer period, so that farms can invest in the equipment they need to deliver different ways of picking our fruit and vegetables, and can train people?

[Mark Spencer]

I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s question. I hope she recognises that yesterday was a huge step forward in guaranteeing those 45,000 visas for next year. That allows farmers to plan for the future and organise next year’s staff rota. She also recognises the importance of innovation and investment in new tech. That is why the Government are investing millions of pounds in new technology and the development of agritech, including robotics and equipment to help farmers become more efficient. We will continue to work across Government and with industry to ensure that everyone has access to affordable food. I thank hon. Members for participating in the debate.

Question put and agreed to.