Universal Credit: Food Banks

2026-07-05 · Department for Work and Pensions · 16301 · Official question

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the APPG on Ending the Need for Food Banks' call for evidence into how the level of support offered by Universal Credit is decided, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the

Answer

We measure whether a household has used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months in the Family Resources Survey. In 2024/25, 16% (1.8 million) of individuals in families on Universal Credit were in households that had used a food bank in the last 12 m...