Felix reacts to the autumn budget announcement

Today’s Budget has not brought the news we were hoping for, but our commitment to the Redistribution Revolution doesn’t stop here.

We are grateful for the work already happening, and for the support the Government has provided so far, but one fundamental problem remains: it can still cost businesses more to redistribute good surplus food to people than to send it elsewhere. That simply doesn’t make sense.

Through the National Programme to Redistribute Surplus Food, there is an ambition to work together to triple the amount of surplus food redistributed across the UK over the next decade. We wholeheartedly share that ambition. But if we are serious about tripling redistribution, we also need to remove the barriers that make it harder and more expensive for businesses to do the right thing.

Good food should feed people. Yet every year, we waste the equivalent of 1 billion meals that could be helping families and communities. We know that isn’t what the people who grow, manufacture and distribute that food want to see, and it isn’t what the public expects.

This is a practical problem with a practical solution. Businesses want to do the right thing, charities stand ready to redistribute more, and together we have shown what is possible. The ambition is there. The sector is ready. Now we need the policy change that will help us deliver it.

So, while we are disappointed today, we are certainly not giving up. We will continue working constructively with Government and with the food industry to make the case for long-term change.

And we need the public to keep standing with us. Back the Redistribution Revolution by volunteering your time or donating to Felix. If we are going to radically increase the amount of surplus food reaching people, we need the people, resources and capacity to make it happen. Together, we can make sure more good food gets to people who need it, rather than going to waste.