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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Covid-19 Purchase and distribute food to charities Grant.

In March 2020 the Government announced a covid-19 support package of £16m, including grant-funding for food redistribution, to provide food for vulnerable individuals. I refer to the answer given on 12 January 2021 to the Parliamentary Question UIN 136545, tabled on 12 January 2021, regarding the outcomes from that package. A further grant of £16m was given to FareShare in winter 2020, where as a result Defra funded food reached over 3,000 frontline organisations and accounted for approximately 18.9 million meals provided.