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The cost of living · problem

Affording food: food banks and food insecurity

Some households cannot afford enough food and rely on food banks, pantries or free school and holiday meals.

Who is affected: Families with children, people on low incomes or waiting for benefits, and people in a sudden crisis.

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Where to get help

1 · The evidence

What the figures show

15,343 parcels

Emergency food parcels from Trussell food banks City 2025 Trussell (charity) ↗ · retrieved 9 Nov 2026

Emergency food parcels from Trussell food banks

2018 to 2025

Portsmouth · parcels

Reviewed figures: 2018 to 2025.

Shown on this chart: From 2018 to 2025, emergency food parcels from Trussell food banks rose by 115.5% in Portsmouth and rose by 88.9% in England.

Both places compared over 2018 to 2025, using matching published dates.

Compared areas: Portsmouth; England.

Change since 2018 (%)

PortsmouthEngland

Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.

Source: Trussell (charity) ↗ · retrieved 9 Nov 2026

This is charity management information, not official statistics.

2 · Who is acting

What’s being done

Official work and other organisations’ projects that address this problem, each with why it is linked. A shared action is the same record shown under each problem it addresses.

Why it’s linked: Funds affordable food, community meals, pantries and foodbanks through its resilience services.

Committed by Portsmouth City Council In progress

Crisis and Resilience Fund

Run the Crisis and Resilience Fund from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029: crisis payments, housing payments, grants to local resilience services and community coordination.

ApprovedFundedUnder wayCompleted

Status evidence, 13 October 2026: Crisis and Resilience Fund ↗

Who pays, key dates and what is missing
Funded by
  • Funded by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government £3,691,344 · Revenue grant, 2026/27 (year one of three)

Made 1 April 2026 · due 31 March 2029 · Crisis and Resilience Fund ↗

6 dated records
  1. 1 April 2026 milestone Crisis and Resilience Fund began, running to 31 March 2029. source ↗
  2. 8 May 2026 milestone Government grant determination allocated £3,691,344 to Portsmouth for 2026/27, paid in monthly instalments. source ↗
  3. 31 August 2026 output 1,012 crisis payment applications received and 428 awards made, totalling £139,707; 323 applications were declined as ineligible. source ↗
  4. 23 September 2026 output 33 resilience grants awarded, worth £748,392, from 47 applications; 90% of the money falls in the fund’s first year. source ↗
  5. 13 October 2026 milestone Council states it has allocated over £1.5 million to local resilience services and over £400,000 to community coordination; funded services not yet listed. source ↗
  6. 13 October 2026 milestone The council reports allocating over £1.5 million to resilience services (food, advice, energy, wellbeing, housing and homelessness help) and over £400,000 to community coordination, which funds the Cost of Living Hub and helpline. These are parts of the fund, not additions to it; the funded services had not yet been listed. source ↗

Why it’s linked: Free meals and activities in school holidays for children on benefits-related free school meals.

In the city · otherUnder way

Holiday Activities and Food: Fun Pompey

Free holiday activities and meals in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays, mainly for school-age children on benefits-related free school meals. From 2026/27 the grant also funds the council’s planning for school-age childcare.

Whose project
Run by Portsmouth City Council
Stage
In 2025: 23,605 places offered and 89% attendance across funded spaces (spring 93%, summer 97%, winter 79%). Unique children reached: 2,553 in spring, 5,621 in summer (1,543 with SEND) and 1,273 in winter; these should not be added together. Feeding Britain’s £7,200 funded 600 summer and 120 October places for children outside HAF eligibility. (1 June 2026, HAF Fun Pompey Annual Report 2025 ↗)
Where, funding and what would show it worked
Where
Venues across the city · Portsmouth children; venues across the city.
Funding
  • Funded by Department for Education Grant: £1.01m · 2026/27 HAF ringfence: £952,530 programme and administration, £52,820 council capacity for school-age childcare. Not directly comparable with 2025/26, whose scope was narrower source ↗
  • Funded by Department for Education Grant: £971,550 · 2025/26 HAF grant (earlier scope) source ↗
  • Funded by Feeding Britain Grant: £7,200 · 2025: £6,000 for 600 summer places and £1,200 for 120 October half-term places, for children outside HAF eligibility source ↗
What would show it worked
Output: Places offered and attended; unique children by season. Outcome: Whether venues, hours and SEND support meet working families’ childcare needs (not yet measured).
Next check
2026 annual report; the national settlement runs to 2028/29.
1 earlier value
  • 8 May 2026: HAF grant was “£971,550 (2025/26)”, now “£1,005,350 (2026/27, now including childcare capacity)” (source)

Why it’s linked: Free breakfast in participating primary schools.

In the city · educationUnder way

Free breakfast clubs in Portsmouth schools

Government-funded free breakfast clubs in primary schools.

Whose project
Run by Department for Education with Court Lane Junior Academy, Cottage Grove Primary, Cliffdale Primary Academy, Stamshaw Junior and Mayfield
Stage
Five Portsmouth schools are on the Department for Education’s September 2026 list. (6 July 2026, Free breakfast clubs: schools on the programme (September 2026) ↗)
Where, funding and what would show it worked
Where
Five Portsmouth schools · Schools in the city.
Funding
No funding published.
Next check
Next wave of schools.

How we’ll know

Measuring progress

Emergency food parcels each year compared with 2019, read alongside food bank capacity (the count covers one network only).

A change in these figures does not by itself show that any one action worked.

3 · What is still missing

Not yet published

  • Use of independent food banks and community pantries: the published parcel count covers only the Trussell network.
  • The list of food services funded by the Crisis and Resilience Fund (the council says it will be added).

More

Other problems within the cost of living