Sir (Scarborough and Whitby)
(Con): The price of wheat peaked at £350 a tonne. It has
subsequently fallen to below £200 a tonne—not much more than it
was before the invasion of Ukraine. Why has the price of bread in
our supermarkets
not fallen, too?
The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries (): I declare my interest in
these matters.
I recognise the fact that global wheat prices have now come back
down. We work closely with retailers, processers and the
hospitality sector to make sure that there is not extra
profiteering in the marketplace. We will continue to have
discussions with those representatives and will work with the
sector to make sure that food is reasonably priced for our
constituents.
(Ogmore) (Lab): I have
raised access to food before with the Minister and, in
particular, how surplus food and food near its use-by date can be
used by organisations such as FareShare. There is still a huge
problem right across the country whereby constituents cannot
afford to buy food in supermarkets
and are therefore relying on food pantries and food banks for
their main shop. To have food security, people must be able to
afford food. What more can the Minister do to resolve those
issues and ensure that people are not literally starving, or in a
position where they cannot afford to buy basic foodstuffs?
: The hon. Gentleman will be
aware of the huge package of support the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has introduced to help families with the cost of living
challenges they face. On average, every household receives over
£3,000 of support with their energy and food bills, but I am sure
we can do more to help and support primary food producers,
processers and retailers to make sure that we drive as much
efficiency as possible into the system, in order to maintain
lower food prices and help families up and down the country.
