5. Question No. 5—Social DevelopmentPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentQuestion No. 5—Social Development5. PAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai) to the Minister for Social Development: How is the Government supporting food banks and other community groups to provide food and essential goods in their communities under level 3? Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Associate Minister for Social Development) on behalf of the Minister for Social Development: The Government has put $32 million towards supporting food banks food rescue and community food services with increased demand over the next two years and to support communities to work together to create food-secure communities. Our food banks and community food services have done a great job at supporting New Zealanders and keeping communities well-fed as we respond and recover from COVID-19. This additional funding bolsters their capability and provides greater security and coordination amongst the sector. In Auckland alone 29 food banks and community food services have been approved funding over the next two years totalling over $7.5 million. We have heard that many food banks in Auckland have experienced increased demand since the change to alert level 3 was announced and due to the additional Government support and coordination across food support systems they feel prepared to respond to the needs of their communities. Paul Eagle: How is the Government making sure that people can access food and face coverings in alert level 3? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: On behalf of the Minister on top of providing additional funding to support food banks the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the New Zealand Food Network are working together to distribute face coverings to individuals and families alongside food parcels. MSD has distributed 2.1 million masks to providers for their use and to distribute with food parcels including food banks food rescue and community food services. Over 700000 of these have been distributed with the help of the New Zealand Food Network. Yesterday we also released a food flow chart which shows where people can go if they are having trouble accessing or affording food during levels 2 and 3. This will be available in nine Pacific languages and Te Reo by the end of the week. Paul Eagle: How are community groups being supported to respond to needs in their communities following the change in alert levels? Hon POTO WILLIAMS: On behalf of the Minister the Government opened a $36 million community capability and resilience fund for community groups seeking funding for initiatives that support the rebuild and recovery from COVID-19 over the next two years. This fund has pivoted to provide immediate funding to support groups to respond to people in need in Auckland following the level 3 restrictions. Total funding of $900000 has been approved already to enable providers to respond to the needs of the community. Those providers include 12 Māori community providers four Pacific community providers and two general community providers. This Government is committed to continuing to support the wellbeing of our people our whānau and our communities in alert levels 2 and 3 and this funding enables us to support locally led solutions.