Scottish Labour has accused the SNP of breaking an election promise as the number of Scots worried about running out of food has nearly doubled since 2017.
The latest Scottish Health Survey from 2023 one in seven Scots – some 14 per cent – were worried they might not have enough food. This had nearly doubled since 2017, where only eight per cent were concerned about it.
In 2023 more than one in 10 – some 11 per cent – reported eating less. This had nearly doubled from six per cent two years earlier. More than one in 20 – some six per cent – reported that they had run out of food in 2023. This had doubled from three per cent two years earlier.
Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has a Members Bill looking to enshrine a legal right to food in Scots law and establish a statutory body to help uphold that right.
The SNP has so far refused to back this bill. This is despite its 2021 manifesto pledging to introduce a legal right to food.
The SNP previously claimed the bill was not needed because its Human Rights Bill would introduce a right to food. But this bill has since been kicked into the long grass. The Scottish Government has confirmed it will not bring forward a Human Rights Bill within the current Parliamentary session.
Grant said: “It is a national scandal that so many Scots are worried about food or going hungry. Access to food is a human right and I have been working to enshrine this in Scots law – but the SNP has broken its promise.
“With its own Human Rights Bill kicked into the long grass, the SNP has no excuse for opposing my Bill. Scottish Labour will continue work to tackle the scourge of food poverty and make the right to food a reality.”
The SNP manifesto for the 2021 Holyrood election said: “We will enshrine the Right to Food in law as a key part of our ambition to be a Good Food Nation”
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We agree that access to food is a human right. The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a Human Rights Bill in the next Parliamentary session, which will include proposals to incorporate the right to food into Scots law.
“The Cabinet Secretary met Rhoda Grant MSP in September 2024 to discuss her proposed Member’s Bill on the Right to Food. We remain ready to engage further once more details or a draft Bill is forthcoming. We are taking forward 9 actions over 3 years, 2023-2026, to improve the response to crisis, using a cash-first approach so that fewer people need to turn to food parcels.
“Our five family payments, including Scottish Child Payment, the Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods, could be worth over £10,000 by the time an eligible child turns six and around £25,000 by the time an eligible child turns 16. Food insecurity is driven by insufficient and insecure household income which is why we continue to call on the UK Government to deliver an Essentials Guarantee to ensure people have enough to meet their basic needs, which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimate could lift 140,000 people in Scotland out of poverty this year.”
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