Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department's policies on food bank use in the UK.

Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation.

National statistics on food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024.

This Government recognises the pressures on the cost of living. Around 19 million families will have seen their benefit payments increase from April 2023, including the State Pension, Pension Credit, disability benefit and Universal Credit. We are also increasing the benefit cap by 10.1% - from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally, so that more households will see their payments increase as a result of uprating.

This Government is also delivering a £94 billion package over this year and next to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living.