FOI Ref: FOI/2022/3991
You asked
Please supply statistics for individuals and households relying on or using food banks in the United Kingdom over the last 15 years. Please provide data as to the number of food banks currently operating in the UK, ideally broken down by number per local authority.
I am aware of a similar request made in 2019 and would like to request further information on why the lack of statistics held by you outlined in the response to that request has not since been resolved to measure that statistic.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the requested information regarding how many people in the UK are using foodbanks.
Questions were added to the Family Resource Survey (FRS) for the survey year 21/22 (Apr 21 - Mar 22) which ask some information about use of foodbanks. However, the FRS is a study conducted by a consortium, including the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Therefore, the DWP would be better placed to answer your request in relation to the collection of this information. They can be contacted via email at freedom-of-information-request@dwp.gov.uk.
Our Opinions and Lifestyle (OPN) Survey does not explicitly collect data on food bank use. However, we do ask questions on household finances, specifically:
Among those who said "my cost of living has increased", we ask the question "Which of the following are you doing because your cost of living has increased?".
Two of the response options to this question are:
- "I have started to use a food bank"
- "I am using foodbanks more"
Please note, these estimates are not a suitable indicator of how many people are using foodbanks. Given how we ask the question, these may underestimate the use of foodbanks amongst the wider population.
For the latest estimates, please see table 2 (row 35 and 36) in the household finance supplementary table (published on 4 March), linked here. These response options were added to the dataset published on 4 February 2022, so there are currently 3 waves of data with these estimates, which can be found here.