Food bank demand up by half in five years as charity urges Labour to act

The Trussell Trust has revealed a stark increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed across the UK, with a 51 per cent rise recorded over the past five years.

The charity delivered nearly 2.9 million emergency food parcels in the year to March 2025, a significant jump from the 1.9 million distributed in the year to March 2020. This surge has prompted urgent calls for government intervention and a reassessment of welfare reform policies.

Trussell has criticised the government's welfare reforms, labelling them a "harmful" policy choice contributing to the escalating reliance on food banks. The charity also cautioned the Labour party against a potential legacy of increased food bank dependency and child poverty.

The data reveals a concerning trend for families, with a 46% increase in emergency food parcels provided to families with children since 2020, and a 32% rise in parcels for children under five.

While the latest figures, totalling 2,885,086 parcels, represent a decrease from the previous year's record high of 3,126,479, the overall five-year trend remains alarming

A decline in food parcel demand was observed across all four UK nations: England (2,396,853), Scotland (239,503), Wales (171,673), and Northern Ireland (77,057). Similarly, deliveries fell in every region except London, where a slight increase was noted, from 454,998 in 2024 to 455,571 in 2025.

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.”