The Government agrees that understanding food security is important, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 2019/20. These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security over time. Building on these statistics, this year we published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time. These statistics, the broader suite of poverty data, and the wealth of academic and campaigner research that exists in this space all help to shape policy considerations. We are committed to putting more money into the pockets of low-income households, to lift families out of all types of poverty. On 1 April 2023, we increased the National Living Wage by 9.7% to £10.42 representing an increase of over £1,600 to the gross annual earnings of a full- time worker on the National Living Wage. The Government will, separately, spend around £276 billion through the welfare system in 2023/24 including around £124 billion on people of working age and children and around £152 billion on pensioners (GB, includes non-DWP spend, prices in 23/24 terms). Income-related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts for specific items of expenditure such as food or fuel charges. There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be, as every person has different requirements depending on their circumstances. This Government firmly believes that claimants should be free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in line with their individual needs and preferences, and we do not consider it appropriate to introduce changes that would prioritise one area of household expenditure over the cost of other essential goods and services. However, the Government does provide additional food-related support to lower-income children and pregnant women to help encourage a healthy diet. The Healthy Start scheme provides pregnant women and children under four and over one each with £4.25 every week, and children under one each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start may be used to buy fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and infant formula and beneficiaries are also eligible for free Healthy Start Vitamins. Also, under the benefits-based criteria, 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal. This saves families around £400 per year. Eligibility for free school meals has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century – including the introduction of universal infant free school meals, and further education free meals. This is further supported by protections that mean that no child would lose their free school meal eligibility throughout the rollout of Universal Credit.