Emma’s Food Insecurity Bill is Happening!

February 27, 2019

The UK Government have agreed to measure Food Insecurity after a successful campaign led by Emma Lewell-Buck MP.

In 2017, Emma Lewell-Buck MP introduced a Private Members Bill to Parliament calling on the Government to start measuring food insecurity in the UK. Her ‘Food Insecurity Bill’ had the backing of 38 organisations, 159 MPs and 18 peers.

On Monday, the Government announced that starting in April 2019, the Department for Work and Pensions will measure food insecurity as part of their annual Family Resources Survey. The results of this first survey will be published in April 2021.

Emma Lewell-Buck MP commented on the victory:

I am thrilled that the Government has finally agreed to implement the asks from my Food Insecurity Bill, and will start measuring UK hunger.

It is a real pity that it has taken this long to be enacted as every single day that has passed has been a day that another person has gone hungry. This positive step forward should not be used as an excuse for Government inaction whilst this important data is being gathered.

The enacting of my Bill should be seen as a pre-cursor to real action on the devastating levels of hunger we are seeing in all of our communities.

I want to give special thanks to the Food Foundation, End Hunger UK, Feeding Britain, all of my colleagues who have supported the Bill and Jo Benham Brown (Key Project) for her petition. Together we are showing that ending hunger is possible.

Latest News

Newsletter