David Chadwick says governments at both ends of the M4 are responsible for the fact that so many families in Wales are using food banks.

The Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP said in a Westminster Hall debate that too many children in his constituency and across Wales are living in poverty.

He said the work food banks do is invaluable, and he thanked dedicated volunteers across his constituency who do “tremendous work” in running food banks.

Mr Chadwick said: “There is the PANTRY food bank in Pontardawe. There are food banks in Brecon, Knighton and Presteigne, Llandrindod Wells, Rhayader, Ystradgynlais, Ystalyfera and Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, all of which provide vital support to people in our communities and help those in need.

“That need is growing across Wales. Food bank parcel distribution has increased by 77% since 2018.

“An estimated six per cent of households in Wales accessed food aid last year, and one in four households are either eating smaller meals or skipping meals altogether.

“In Wales, child poverty rates are significantly worse than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. In my own region, a staggering one third of children in Neath Port Talbot and 20% in Powys live in absolute poverty.

“These high child poverty rates have remained stubbornly high across Wales, moving barely at all since the early 2000s.

“That can only represent a failure of policy and political will across successive Governments on both sides of the M4.”

Mr Chadwick said volunteers often say that, although the work they do is valuable, food banks should not need to exist at all.

He told MPs: “They exist due to our state’s failure to address poverty within our communities and are needed to support adequately those struggling to make ends meet.

“Tackling food poverty requires a cross-sector approach. Rising energy and housing costs are pushing more and more people into poverty.

“The cost of energy makes producing food in this country even more expensive. In Wales, we urgently need more investment, and well-paying jobs should be brought back in deprived areas.

“Former mining communities, such as those in the south of my constituency, are still waiting for new industries to arrive.”

Mr Chadwick said the new Labour Government cannot afford to continue to "make the mistakes of the past".

He said: “We cannot end up in a situation in which the same number, or even more, children are relying on food banks in 10 years’ time.

“We will continue to hold this Government, as well as those in the devolved Parliaments, to account to ensure that that is not the case.”