Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of food price inflation on households experiencing food insecurity; and how that assessment informs current food and agriculture policy.

Food price inflation is part of a wider challenge on cost of living and the Government’s approach goes beyond tackling food alone. The Government is working to address the cost-of-living pressures facing families across the country through targeted measures including raising the minimum wage, extending the bus fare cap, rolling out Best Start family hubs; extending the holiday activity and food programme; the expansion of free-school-meals; removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit; and reforming the crisis support though the introduction of the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Defra is introducing the Food Inflation Gateway which will assess the impact of Government regulations on food businesses and food prices before implementation. In December 2025, the Government announced the creation of the Farming & Food Partnership Board which will bring together farming, food, retail, finance and Government, taking a strategic farm to fork approach to increase farming profitability and strengthen our food production.