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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of rising food prices on average household budgets.

Year on year food prices have continued to fall, with a 2% fall over the last 12 months, according to the most recent official Consumer Prices Index (CPI) figures released on 13 December. General inflation is 1.2 per cent, up from 0.9 per cent in October. Food prices rose by 0.4% in the month to November 2016. However, overall, food prices have fallen by 7% since their peak in February 2014.

Commodity prices, exchange rates and oil prices are known to be the most important drivers of retail food price inflation.

This Government is committed to tackling poverty and disadvantage and to delivering real social reform, and we believe that economic growth and employment offer the best route to give people a better future. Household spend on food by households with the lowest 20% income is included in the Living Cost of Food Survey (LCFS) and has remained constant at around 16.5% for a number of years. The Government helps the most vulnerable afford and have access to nutritious food though initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme and Free School Meals, and through the welfare system.