Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people referred to foodbanks by Jobcentre Plus in the Halton and Cheshire West and Chester local authority areas in each of the last seven years.

Jobcentre Plus does not make direct referrals to food banks but has offered a signposting service since 2011 to those who have expressed an interest in using a foodbank. No data is held on the number using the signposting service in the Halton and Cheshire West and Chester local authority area.