Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps taken in response to the Trussell Trust's State of Hunger report, published on 12 May 2021.

This Government has long-championed the principle that the best and most sustainable way to tackle poverty is by supporting people to move into and to progress in work wherever possible. Before the pandemic, this approach had seen record levels of employment, the strongest growth in household incomes for almost 20 years, and 1.3 million fewer people, including 300,000 children, in absolute poverty, after housing costs compared with 2010.

Throughout the pandemic, Government departments have worked together to deliver support to help people cope with its the financial effects including, for example, on the Covid Winter Support Package. Part of this package included the Covid Winter Grant and Covid Local Support Grant, together totalling £269m administered by local authorities to help the most vulnerable stay warm and well fed, with the principal focus on children.

The Holiday Activities and Food Fund, which provides healthy meals, enriching activities and nutritional education, as well as signposting families to wider local support, has received £220m of funding for the major school holidays in 2021.

As we recover from the pandemic, Departments will continue to work together to deliver a number of key cross-cutting outcomes linked to the 2020 Spending Review. These outcomes include addressing poverty through enabling progression into work and increasing financial resilience. DWP is leading this work in collaboration with other Departments including, in particular, HMT, DfE, MHCLG and Defra.