Steve Baker has said he is “appalled” that people in Wycombe are struggling to access food after a damning report found the area was one of the worst in England for food insecurity.

The Wycombe MP, who last year voted against extending free school meals until Easter this year, branded the report, by the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, as “shocking”.

He said: “This shocking report is a cause of deep sorrow. I'm appalled Wycombe people are in this position as we exit Covid restrictions.

“This suffering was foreseeable. That's why I’ve been supporting One Can Trust and why, from as early as spring last year, I have been urging Government to remember the consequences of lockdowns and restrictions in people’s lives.

“As I said when I raised this in the Commons [last Thursday], I've stood down from Treasury Committee so I can work more closely with our great Conservative council on our plan for Wycombe.

“It seems today, we need to put food security top of the list. Housing costs are likely to follow not far behind.”

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His comments come after the University of Sheffield published research which found the former Wycombe district is one of the areas worst hit by food insecurity – where people struggle to access food or cannot afford to buy food despite being hungry.

Almost 30 per cent of people struggle to access food in Wycombe, while 14 per cent are estimated to be hungry.

The area also has high estimates for numbers of people who are worried about having enough food (22 per cent).

While Mr Baker said he was shocked by the report, Graham Peart, chairman of food bank and charity One Can Trust, said he was “not surprised” by the “higher than average numbers of people in Wycombe and surrounding areas experiencing food insecurity”, and slammed it as “unacceptable”.

He added: “Sadly statistics show very high levels of those in receipt of Universal Credit, housing benefit and free school meals.

“Although, demand is down from the peak of the pandemic, we are still supporting more than 400 adults and children – more than double those needing help pre-pandemic.

“This level of food poverty in Wycombe and the surrounding areas is extremely sad and unacceptable.

“Food banks are intended to help people in crisis but what we are seeing across the country is alarmingly high numbers of people having to rely on them long term.

“We need real solutions to ensure foodbanks do not become part of the status quo.

“We have started a programme of insight to try to find out more about the causes of food poverty and how we can use that information to help support or suggest longer term solutions.”

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He continued: “What is becoming clear from our research is that the focus of support is mainly to resolve a crisis after it happens rather than earlier assistance to prevent the crisis arising in the first place.

“Many of our clients have experienced issues that require additional support to enable them to get back to a more stable situation.

“We are exploring how we might be able to signpost our clients to different types of support, such as debt counselling, job clubs, one-to-one mentoring, life-skills, which might help their situation.

“We also know we are supporting some clients who are working but simply can't make ends meet, some who have lost work as a result of the pandemic and we are concerned about what's around the corner, with the expected end to the uplift in Universal Credit and the Furlough scheme.

“Anyone who needs the assistance of an emergency food parcel should not hesitate to call One Can Trust now in complete confidence on 01494 512277.”