Labour has called on Coalition councillors to declare a food poverty emergency in County Durham.

In an amendment to a motion tabled by Conservative Cllr Luke Holmes that will be heard at today’s Full Council meeting, Labour’s shadow member for health, Cllr Lucy Hovvels MBE, will demand urgent Government intervention to provide funding for county communities to help feed families.

She said:

“The people of County Durham have been let down for 12 years by this government and are now being let down by the Tory-led Coalition running the Council.

“We watch in dismay as London receives billions in infrastructure investment while families in County Durham, financially crippled by the Tory Government’s cost of living crisis and austerity purge that decimated support services, cannot afford to feed their children.

“It is way past time that the Coalition calling the shots in County Durham must lobby the government on behalf of our communities and demand funding to enable people access to healthy food, in line with the Eatwell Guide.”

The amendment was seconded by Cllr Angela Surtees, Labour lead for communities and inclusion.

The amendment is to a motion noting that eating disorders and excess weight are public health concerns in the county and for an holistic plan to promote healthy weight, reduce excess calorie intake and increase physical activity.

The motion continues:

“This council will continue to work across the whole system with our communities, families, education settings, employers, and the VCS to address food poverty and to increase access to affordable healthy food, to promote healthy food options ad to promote and increase access to physical activity.

“The Eatwell Guide is a policy tool used to define government recommendations on eating healthily and achieving a balanced diet.

“Given the importance of healthy food this Council calls for partners across the whole system to work with government recommendations on healthy eating and adopt the Eatwell Guide as the standard they aim to achieve for their food offer.”

Cllr Surtees added:

“There is a wealth of fantastic initiatives across County Durham helping people with dietary issues, and more power to them. The Coalition’s motion misses one glaringly obvious point – people just can’t afford to eat healthily.

“To increase access to affordable healthy food, outlined in the Eatwell Guide, food poverty must be addressed. This Council can promote healthy food and physical activity all it wants, but the inescapable evidence is that for many people and families there is a gap between income and the cost of securing a nutritious diet.

“We have tried everything else, so by declaring a food poverty emergency we can maybe shame this government, as Marcus Rashford did in 2020, to fund healthy food for families. The North East has some of the highest deprivation in the country where almost half of our children live in absolute poverty – we need action now!”