Charity urges action on hardship as food bank demand up by half in five years

The number of emergency food parcels given out across the UK has risen by more than half in the past five years, according to a charity.

Food bank network Trussell urged the Government to row back on its welfare reform plans, which it described as a “harmful” policy choice and said Labour risks a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty.

There were almost 2.9 million emergency food parcels handed out in the year to March 2025, the charity said.

The latest figure of 2,885,086 is a 51% rise on 1,909,345 parcels given out in the year to March 2020.

Trussell said the figures also show struggles for families, with the charity saying there has been a 46% rise in emergency food parcels provided to families with children, and a 32% rise in parcels to support children under the age of five since 2020.

The most recent overall number is down on last year’s record high of 3,126,479 parcels.

Food parcel demand fell in each of the four UK nations, to 2,396,853 in England, 239,503 in Scotland, 171,673 in Wales and 77,057 in Northern Ireland.

Deliveries also fell across each region except London where it rose from 454,998 in the year to March 2024 to 455,571 in the year to this March.

Trussell chief executive Emma Revie said the Government must make addressing hunger and hardship a priority as part of its overall plans to boost the economy, as she urged a rethink on welfare reforms.

Proposals, set out earlier this year, would tighten the eligibility criteria for the main disability benefit in England and see the sickness-related element of Universal Credit cut.

The package of measures are aimed at reducing the number of working-age people on sickness benefits, which grew during the pandemic and has remained high since.

The Government hopes the proposals can save £5 billion a year by the end of the decade but an impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned some 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – could fall into relative poverty as a result of the changes.

Last week, it emerged Rachel Reeves’s local Labour party is to demand that the Chancellor abandons her plans to cut disability benefits.

The Leeds West and Pudsey Constituency Labour Party (CLP), which campaigned to return Ms Reeves to Parliament in the general election as its local MP, agreed to write to her “as soon as possible” to make clear it does not support the cuts.

The local party branch passed a motion opposing the cuts, seen by the PA news agency, when it met last week.

Meanwhile, Trussell also called for local housing allowance to be unfrozen, arguing the freeze can have a major impact on the ability of those most in need to afford the essentials.

Ms Revie said: “Thousands of families with children, single households, disabled people, working people and older people from across the UK needed to access food banks for emergency food in the past year.

“A whole generation has now grown up in a country where sustained high levels of food bank need feel like the norm. This should be a massive wake-up call to Government and a stark reminder of their responsibilities to the people of this country.

“This UK government will fail to deliver on its promise to improve living standards for us all unless it rows back on its harmful policy choices on disability benefits and housing support and shows greater ambition on areas like the upcoming child poverty strategy and future of local crisis support.

“Without action, they risk leaving a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty.

“It is clear that the public’s cost of living fears are far from over, and these numbers show why. If the UK government truly wants to improve public services, boost the economy and make the UK a better place to live, then addressing hunger and hardship must be a priority.”

A Government spokesperson said: “This Government is determined to change people’s lives for the better, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years.

“We are reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most.

“As part of our Plan for Change we are extending the Household Support Fund, launching 750 breakfast clubs across the country and making changes to universal credit to give a £420 boost to over one million households.”

Published: 21/05/2025 by Radio NewsHub