Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local 
Government
Fry Building 
2 Marsham Street 
London 
SW1P 4DF
T 030 3444 0000
www.gov.uk/mhclg
 
Garry Richardson
Date: 7 September 2020
 
 
Dear Mr Richardson
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000 - 8686933
 
Thank you for your request for information which we received on 10 August 
2020 and processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 
You requested: "Can you please confirm the following: 
i) How many food boxes have been issued in England. 
ii) How many food boxes have been issued in the North West of England. 
ii) How many food boxes have been issued in Lancashire. 
iii) How many food boxes have been issued in Blackpool. 
iv) How many food boxes have been issued in the Blackpool North and Cleveleys 
constituency. 
v) How many food boxes have been issued in the Blackpool South constituency. 
The above requested information is for the period 23 March 2020 till 31 July 2020. 
I look forward to hearing from you.".
 
I can confirm that some of the information requested is held by the Ministry of 
Housing, Communities and Local Government and we are able to provide you with 
the information we hold. I have detailed below the information that is being released 
to you.
Through the National Shielding Service between 27 March and 31 July 2020, the 
government has provided 4,724,611 food packages in England. The food packages 
were standardised and contained basic food and household essentials.
                                                                                                                                        
The food packages were supplied and delivered by wholesalers Brakes and Bidfood, 
through a contract managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural 
Affairs (DEFRA). Local Authorities have also separately provided food packages to 
meet dietary, cultural or religious needs where needed.
                                                                                                                      
The figure above is the total number of food packages delivered in England through 
the National Shielding Service. It does not include food packages provided by Local 
Authorities during that period.

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TEMPLATE FRAMEWORK – NOT TO BE USED FOR SUBMISSION 
OF DRAFT ANSWERS
MHCLG does not hold the geographical breakdown of the total number of food 
packages provided in England that you have requested. Information within scope of 
this part of your request may be held by DEFRA, Cabinet Office or  local authorities.
DEFRA’s FOI team can be contacted at: xxxxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
Cabinet Office’s FOI team can be contacted at: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
 
Complaints procedure
 
If you are unhappy with this response, we will review it and report back to you. (This 
is called an internal review.) If you want us to do this, let us know by return email 
within two months of receiving this response. You can also ask by letter addressed 
to:
 
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Knowledge and Information Access Team
4th Floor SE, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF
 
If you are unhappy with the outcome of this internal review, you can ask the 
independent Information Commissioner to investigate. The Information 
Commissioner can be contacted at email address xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx or use their 
online form at ico.org.uk/concerns or call them on 0303 123 1113.
 
 
 
Yours faithfully,
 
MHCLG FOI Team

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