Supermarkets: Coronavirus

(asked on 28th January 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department can make available to vulnerable individuals who are unable to afford minimum spending requirements or delivery charges for priority supermarket home delivery slots.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 5th February 2021

DEFRA is continuing to hold regular conversations with each of the seven supermarkets participating in the priority access to online deliveries offer: Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. The department uses these meetings as an opportunity to convey any concerns raised by charities or Local Authorities around topics such as delivery charges. Although DEFRA cannot legally dictate the delivery costs charged by supermarkets, our regular conversations ensure that supermarkets understand the impact that delivery charges can have in preventing a clinically extremely vulnerable person from being able to access food.

Alongside encouraging supermarkets to seriously consider the impact delivery charges can have on clinically extremely vulnerable people, the department also monitors delivery charges and circulates this information to Local Authorities to allow them to advise their residents accordingly.

If a vulnerable customer is struggling to afford the costs associated with online delivery, they could consider using a supermarket’s click and collect service. While there is no priority access to click and collect slots, slot availability tends to be much higher than for online deliveries. Vulnerable customers could ask friends, family or a volunteer to visit the store and collect the shopping they ordered online on their behalf. If a vulnerable customer is unable to access food through one of these routes, then they may wish to contact their local council to see what support they are able to offer.

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