Recommendation 2

The Government’s focus on people defined as “clinically extremely vulnerable” (CEV) to the virus, while rational from a medical perspective, was an inappropriate proxy for the need for support with access to food and had unintended consequences. It was rapidly established and broadly effective for those on the CEV list, for which everyone involved should be congratulated, but it also set one group of people with clinical needs against others with social barriers to food shopping during the pandemic. The Government’s predominant focus on supporting CEV people, and its clear direction to the food sector to prioritise them, may have contributed to some supermarkets overlooking their legal obligations to make reasonable adjustments for the broader population of disabled people, which has led to legal challenges.