COVID-19 and food supply: follow up

The Government has continued to take this recipient-first approach forward to subsequent stages of food access support for the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV). Following the first lockdown, priority access to delivery slots with seven supermarkets (Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose) became the primary offer for CEV individuals. Once again, the focus of this scheme has been the needs of recipients instead of suppliers: firm regulation around how supermarkets may use the data they receive from Government ensures they cannot target marketing at anyone who does not already have an account with them. This regulation has ensured that the scheme always serves the needs and interests of the recipients before the retailers. Conclusion and Recommendation 5: During the 2021 lockdown, the Government has relied more heavily on supermarkets to provide food to vulnerable groups. We support the principle that where possible people should be supported to shop for themselves. However, if the Government is directing custom towards supermarkets, it should be publicly asking them to accommodate the needs of the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV), elderly and disabled people. For example, by lowering minimum spends and removing delivery charges for CEV customers. However, a disproportionate number of people with disabilities are digitally excluded through not having access to the necessary equipment or skills. Therefore, whilst recognising the good work of the charitable sector, the Government must ensure that local authorities are properly resourced, and that retailers recognise their responsibility, to assist those who are digitally excluded in making food orders for delivery. (Paragraph 23) Response: Defra is grateful for the support of supermarkets to enable vulnerable individuals to access prioritised home delivery slots, as we continue to hold regular conversations with each of the seven supermarkets participating in the offer of priority access to online deliveries: Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. The department uses these meetings as an opportunity to convey any concerns raised by charities or Local Authorities around topics such as delivery charges. Although Defra cannot legally dictate the delivery costs charged by supermarkets, our regular conversations ensure that supermarkets understand the impact that delivery charges can have in preventing a CEV person from being able to access food. Alongside encouraging supermarkets to seriously consider the impact delivery charges can have on CEV people, Defra also monitors delivery charges and circulates this information to Local Authorities in the form of a “supermarket toolkit” to allow them to advise their residents accordingly. This document contains information on where a retailer’s service can be accessed by phone instead of through the internet, which Local Authorities may use to support digitally excluded residents. Lastly, guidance provided to the CEV (through gov.uk webpages and shielding letters) includes a phone number for the NHS volunteer responders service. CEV individuals can call this number if they are not able to access food through the priority access to supermarket delivery slots scheme – for instance if they are digitally excluded. Since November 2020, Government has provided councils with funding at a rate of £14.60 per CEV individual per four weeks whilst their local area has been subject to shielding guidance, to enable councils to support those CEV individuals in need. To date, MHCLG has provided over £113 million to Local Authorities through this funding formula, with a further £60 million to be provided by the end of May. The funding was not ringfenced to provide maximum flexibility, but councils were expected to use it to deliver the activities and outcomes outlined in the Shielding Framework. There are numerous examples of Local Authorities using their funding to support digitally excluded residents. In Hampshire, classes are being run by the Local Authority at local libraries, aimed at people who have internet connections and equipment but lack confidence in using them. Derby City Council has loaned tablets to vulnerable people and installed Wi-Fi in the homes of some CEV individuals. Essex County Council has created a network of digital-buddy volunteers. These volunteers called CEV residents who required assistance and wherever possible support was provided at home. A campaign was also put in place to encourage residents to help older CEV family members to improve their digital literacy. Conclusion and Recommendation 6: It is imperative that food retailers ensure that their stores are accessible to disabled people. We recognise the challenges faced in adapting stores to social distancing in the early months of the pandemic, but there is no excuse for ongoing barriers. All food retailers must ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to ensure that disabled people are not

Since the start of the pandemic, Government departments have come together to coordinate support for the most vulnerable. For example, the Food to the Vulnerable Ministerial Taskforce was set up in Spring 2020 to respond to some of the initial challenges of Covid-19, for a limited time and with a defined remit. The taskforce’s membership spanned Departments across government including Housing, Communities and Local Government, Work and Pensions, and Ministers from the Devolved Administrations. The taskforce was instrumental in putting in place support for the most vulnerable individuals. This included: • £63 million for the Local Authority Grant Scheme, delivered by Defra with support from MHCLG, to enable Local Authorities to provide further support for individuals struggling to afford food and essential items; • £10.5 million to the food redistributor FareShare; • £1.8 million to the Covid-19 emergency food redistribution scheme, delivered by Defra and the Waste and Resources Action Programme; • £3.4 million to support individual charities through the Food Charity Grant Scheme. Defra, DfE, DWP and DHSC also worked together on the Covid Winter Support Package in November 2020 – ensuring that we could provide support to those impacted by the pandemic throughout the winter period. This principle of cross-departmental collaboration will guide us as we recover from the pandemic. Through the priority outcomes that accompanied the 2020 Spending Review, departments committed to working together to deliver a number of cross-cutting outcomes. Those outcomes include addressing poverty through enabling progression into the workforce and increasing financial resilience. DWP is leading this outcome, working with HMT, DFE and MHCLG, and others as necessary, including Defra. Conclusion and Recommendation 9: We agree that enshrining principles in law is not a “silver bullet”, however, giving the “right to food” a legislative footing would drive action on food insecurity across Whitehall and Government. We therefore recommend that the Government should consult on how a “right to food” could be implemented in England as part of its White Paper following the publication of the National Food Strategy. We appreciate that the right to daily nutritious food as part of a national food strategy will need to consider the need for people to have food security along with other essential needs. (Paragraph 34) Response: We are committed to helping people with the cost of living and providing a safety net for those that need it through our well-established social security systems. The level of support that this Government has put in place throughout the Covid-19 pandemic such as the Winter Grant and furlough scheme reflect this. Part One of Henry Dimbleby’s independent review of the food system was published on 29 July 2020 and contained recommendations relating to the Covid-19 pandemic and preceding the end of the transition period. Several of these recommendations were aimed at addressing food insecurity, including the expansion of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and increasing the value of the Healthy Start vouchers, which the Government has already acted on. His second and final report is due later this year. Having already taken steps to adopt some of the recommendations from the first report, we look forward to considering recommendations made in the second. Since 1976, the United Kingdom has recognised the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 11 notes “the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food”, and seeks “to improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources”; and “taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.” The Covenant is not incorporated into domestic law, as the Covenant does not require States Parties to do so. The Government considers that its method of implementation of the Covenant fulfils the UK’s obligations under Article 2(1). The UK is also committed to delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, including on ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture and on ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Conclusion and Recommendation 10: Food redistribution helps to provide nutritious food to those who might not otherwise have access to it, as well as minimising waste. We reiterate our recommendation that the Government should provide ongoing funding to FareShare and other charities, so they can continue to redistribute surplus food from the farmgate and acr

We are committed to helping people with the cost of living and providing a safety net for those that need it through our well-established social security systems. The level of support that this Government has put in place throughout the Covid-19 pandemic such as the Winter Grant and furlough scheme reflect this. Part One of Henry Dimbleby’s independent review of the food system was published on 29 July 2020 and contained recommendations relating to the Covid-19 pandemic and preceding the end of the transition period. Several of these recommendations were aimed at addressing food insecurity, including the expansion of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and increasing the value of the Healthy Start vouchers, which the Government has already acted on. His second and final report is due later this year. Having already taken steps to adopt some of the recommendations from the first report, we look forward to considering recommendations made in the second. Since 1976, the United Kingdom has recognised the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 11 notes “the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food”, and seeks “to improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources”; and “taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.” The Covenant is not incorporated into domestic law, as the Covenant does not require States Parties to do so. The Government considers that its method of implementation of the Covenant fulfils the UK’s obligations under Article 2(1). The UK is also committed to delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, including on ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture and on ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Conclusion and Recommendation 10: Food redistribution helps to provide nutritious food to those who might not otherwise have access to it, as well as minimising waste. We reiterate our recommendation that the Government should provide ongoing funding to FareShare and other charities, so they can continue to redistribute surplus food from the farmgate and across the supply chain to frontline food aid providers. (Paragraph 36) Response: The Government is committed to reducing and preventing food waste. To that end a holistic programme of action is in place to reduce and prevent food waste from the home and from business and includes helping to redistribute more surplus food from the food chain. The total amount of surplus food redistributed in the UK in 2018 was nearly 56,000 tonnes, almost doubling (a 96% increase) between 2015 and 2018. Since, 2018, the Department either directly or through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) awarded grants totalling over £11m to the redistribution sector. This includes nearly £4 million for not-for-profit organisations to carry out key redistribution activities such as storage and repackaging and redistributing to charities and / or end beneficiaries through the Covid-19 emergency food surplus food redistribution programme. The final grant award to the sector was made as recently as February 2021 for nearly £800k for a warehouse in London. Here, the Felix Project aims to double the organisation’s food surplus redistribution figures to 5,000 tonnes per year by 2023. This award, and hundreds of other grants, are now providing the infrastructure such as vehicles, freezers and fridges to redistributors both large and small across the country to make sure more surplus food goes to those who have a need in the months and years to come. We are monitoring the return on this investment and are now beginning to see the results with a significant increase in surplus food redistributed predicted in the next set of survey results for 2020 due in May. There are no plans at the present time to tender further grant opportunities (and no funds allocated in the 21/22 financial year to do so) but we continue to work with the sector and the supply chain to break down the barriers to redistribution. This includes developing new resources, such as updating labelling guidance, to make it easier for businesses and redistributors alike to form partnerships and to redistribute more. The redistribution sector wants to see a greater focus on businesses making food surplus available. To that end we are working closely with partners such as WRAP and the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) and across the supply chain to highlight the opportunities for business to redistribute their surplus. This includes our support, through