Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced new government plans to treble the amount of surplus food made available for redistribution across the UK.

The move is designed to tackle food waste and food poverty as households continue to face pressure from rising food bills and the wider cost-of-living crisis.

Food charities and social enterprises have joined forces behind a new National Programme to Redistribute Surplus Food, which will see the food industry, charities, social enterprises, philanthropists and government working together to increase the volume of surplus food reaching communities.

The plan has been developed over several months by sector leaders and co-authored by IGD and FareShare and The Felix Project. The Bread and Butter Thing, City Harvest, Community Shop, Feeding Britain, His Church, Neighbourly, Trussell and the Xcess Network are among the organisations backing the initiative.

Following the King’s Speech, Starmer told Parliament: “Faced with challenges, we don’t retreat from our Labour values. Strength through fairness. So, we will keep supporting those who need it the most, including by creating a new national programme to redistribute surplus food.”

The programme has been inspired by the King’s Coronation Food Project and developed with the support of Number 10.

WRAP chief executive Catherine David said the announcement marked “a vital step forward” in tackling the UK’s food waste challenge.

“Redistribution has a critical role to play, supporting stretched households while reducing the enormous financial and environmental cost of good food going to waste,” she said.

However, David added that redistribution must sit alongside efforts to stop food being wasted in the first place, particularly in the home.

“Home is where most of the UK’s food waste occurs, which can cost a family of four an average of £1,000, and we know that over 70 per cent of people are worried by rising food prices,” she said.

“At a time when households are under growing financial pressure, tackling household food waste is one of the most immediate ways we can help people save money, strengthen food security and build resilience for the future.”

The organisations behind the programme said surplus food redistribution should not be seen as a replacement for structural reforms needed to tackle poverty. However, they described it as an “unambiguously positive intervention” that can support communities, improve health and build local resilience.

The community groups supplied by redistribution networks often provide wider support beyond food, including social connection, financial advice, housing guidance and help for young people.

The partners said scaling up redistribution would allow more food to reach people who need it, while freeing up resources across the community sector.

David said the challenge had become more urgent against a backdrop of geopolitical disruption, rising living costs and pressure on supply chains.

“Today, with supply chains straining under geopolitical disruption and the cost of living continuing to rise, we must treat food as the precious resource it is,” she said.

“We cannot afford, economically, environmentally or socially, for wasting food to remain the norm.”

She added: “Whether in the fields, factories, shops, restaurants or our own kitchens, reducing food waste must become a shared national effort.”

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