Food Banks

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 18th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it a discourtesy to the House that the two Work and Pensions Ministers who have responsibility for this debate have not been in the Chamber for some time, and neither has any DEFRA Minister, even though the debate is on food banks?

[Mr Speaker]

The organisation of the Bench rota by the Government is a matter for Ministers to decide. I note that the hon. Gentleman regards it as unusual, and that view might be widely shared, but it is not within the power of the Chair to change the situation, even if the Chair were minded to do so. It is beyond my physical powers. Perhaps we can leave it at that.

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[Mr Speaker]

In the spirit of Christmas, I say to the hon. Gentleman that there is nothing so striking as a Member busily congratulating himself on his own generosity.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I fear the hon. Gentleman is not giving way. He has the floor.

[Alun Cairns]

Only three parcels can be distributed in a six-month period. The right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton spoke of soup kitchens. If his suggestion was right, there would be no such limitations. Our focus must be on getting people the right support from the right place. That might be from their MP, a charitable organisation, a local authority or the state sector.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. It is quite clear that the Minister is not giving way at the moment.

[Mr Hurd]

Support is being provided through the Cabinet Office. I am extremely proud that through our social action fund we have granted £1.7 million to Tearfund, which runs programmes in partnership with the Cinnamon Network that aim to tackle a variety of local issues such as food banks and food poverty. I am proud to say that 81 Trussell Trust-run food bank franchises benefited from that funding. More funding is being made available and more franchises are applying for it. This Government are very proud to place on record our acknowledgement of and congratulations to food banks. We have an active programme to support them

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[Mr Hurd]

The social fund is being administered by local authorities, which, as a councillor himself, the hon. Gentleman well knows. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are strong feelings on both sides but the Minister must be heard.

[Mr Hurd]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that not one penny was cut and the fund has been devolved to local authorities, which is entirely the right thing to do. There was no acknowledgement of the past, however.

[Sir Gerald Kaufman]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Hurd is exactly what he is.

[Mr Speaker]

That is not a point of order, but I am sure the right hon. Gentleman found it humorous.

[Mr Hurd]

There was no acknowledgement of the past and no real acknowledgement of some of the complexities underlying this situation. The Labour Front-Bench team came here simply to make political capital and I think lost the respect of the House. It would have been nice to hear some acknowledgement from the Opposition Front Benchers or Back Benchers of the improvement in the economy and the fact that we now have more than 30 million people in work—a record number—and of the performance of this Government in a few years to get this economy back on track.