Thank you for contacting me about the level of Universal Credit.
As Secretary of State for Work and Pensions I was committed to understanding and addressing poverty, which is why I commissioned and published official estimates of food security for the first time. According to the latest Government statistics - published in the Family Resources Survey - most households in the UK were food secure in the financial year 2022-23. The vast majority of households, 90 per cent, had high or marginal household food security, meaning that they had sufficient access to food to facilitate an active and healthy lifestyle.
The Government is providing substantial support through the welfare system. It will spend around £124 billion through social security in Great Britain in 2024/25, including around £125 billion on people of working age and children after a increase 10.1 per cent in April 2023.
The Government pays for about 2 million children to have free school meals in England. as well as benefits-related free school meals. The Government is also investing over £200 million per year through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which supports disadvantaged children and their families, including by providing them with healthy food. The programme takes place across England and reached over 685,000 children during last year’s summer holidays, of which 475,000 children were receiving benefits-related free school meals.