Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 61
Agree consistent definition and measurement of food insecurity, addressing high prices in rural Scotland.
Recommendation
By Spring 2024, the UK and Scottish Governments should agree a consistent means of defining food insecurity and food poverty and show how it plans to measure this in the context of remote rural communities in Scotland. In its response to this report, both Governments should also set out what it is doing to address high food prices affecting remote rural communities in Scotland specifically.
Government Response Summary
The government details its existing welfare support and its current internationally recognised definition of food security. However, it does not commit to agreeing a consistent definition with the Scottish Government or setting out specific actions for high food prices in remote rural communities.
Paragraph Reference:
61
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
51. The UK Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. 52. We will spend around £276 billion through the welfare system in 2023/24, including around £124 billion on people of working age and children, and around £153 billion on pensioners. Of this, around £79 billion will be spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. (GB, includes non-DWP spend, prices in 23–24 terms). 53. Following on from a 10.1% increase to benefit rates and State Pensions in April 2023, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by 6.7% this April 2024 in line with inflation. The Basic and New State Pensions will be uprated by 8.5% in line with earnings, as part of the ‘triple lock”. 54. To support those in work, the main rate of Class 1 employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) was cut from 12% to 10% from 6 January 2024, and further from 10% to 8% from 6 April 2024, which has provided a tax cut for 27 million working people. 55. On 1 April 2024, the UK Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW. 56. The UK Government recognises the pressures people have been facing as a result of cost of living increases and has acted, providing substantial support across the UK as well as target support to those most in need. Taken together, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £104 billion over 2022–23 to 2024–25. This support has included delivering Cost of Living Payments of up to £900 to over 8 million households across the UK on eligible means-tested benefits this financial year. Over 6 million people across the UK on eligible ’extra-costs’ disability benefits have received a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment, to help with the additional costs they face, while more than eight million pensioner households across the UK have received a £300 Cost of Living Payment paid as a top up to the winter fuel payment. 57. The UK Government takes the issue of food security seriously. We use the internationally recognised definition of food security as the measure of whether households have sufficient food to facilitate active and healthy lifestyles. Low and very low food security households are considered to be “food insecure.” This can include the household reducing the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets, the eating patterns of one or more household members being disrupted, food intake being reduced because the household lacked money and other resources for food.