Food banks are busier, but we do not know exactly how many people use them

In January, the Labour Party published a “missions document”, setting out its vision for running the country.

As part of the document, the party claimed 2.98 million people are currently using food banks, up from 60,000 in 2010.

Evaluation: False

While data does suggest a significant rise in the use of food banks, the figure used by the Labour Party is the number of parcels handed out by the Trussell Trust charity, rather than the number of people using food banks.

The facts

In the year to March 2023, the Trussell Trust – the UK’s largest network of food banks – reported it had handed out 2.99 million emergency food parcels.

The organisation does not collect information on the total number of individual users, but says 760,000 people used a food bank for the first time in the previous 12 months.

While the Trussell Trust operates more than 1,300 food banks across the UK, there are many other independent providers not included in its figures. The Independent Food Aid Network has mapped 1,172 food banks not affiliated with the Trussell Trust.

The figure of 60,000 people receiving food parcels in 2010 is backed up by a 2013 press release from the Trussell Trust, which shows 61,468 people received a parcel in 2010-11.

However, the trust has clarified to the PA news agency that this also refers to the number of parcels given out, rather than number of users.

Separate figures from the Family Resources Survey, an annual survey carried out by the Department of Work and Pensions, suggest 2.11 million people have used a food bank within the last 12 months. Of these, 1.31 million were adults and 800,000 children.

These figures were based on a survey of 16,000 people. While they provide a useful estimate of food bank use they are not definitive figures on the number of users.

The Labour Party has been asked for comment.

Links

Labour missions document (archived)

Trussell Trust end of year statistics (archived)

Independent food banks map (archived)

Trussell Trust press release from 2013 (archived)

Food security tables from the Family Resources Survey (see tables 9.1 and 9.3)

Households below average income, Department for Work and Pensions (archived)

Accompanying data, Households below average income (archived)