Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce the long-term use of food banks.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. The Get Britain Working White Paper has set out how the Government will seek to grow the economy through using work as a route out of poverty and to improve living standards in turn.

Our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired by Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has begun work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage.

Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do.

To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.