Petition · past parliament

Help the vulnerable access food and essentials during the coronavirus lockdown.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Encourage and effectively support supermarkets to distribute food and essentials by introducing additional delivery and collections capacity for people in this category. Additional staff, vehicles and temporary 3rd party contracts are in need to help those vulnerable to access vital supplies.
People in high-risk categories are being isolated for 12 weeks and may not have help readily available to access essentials and food.

All supermarkets across the country are fully booked with deliveries and collection slots meaning vulnerable people are having no choice but to venture out of their homes and safe spaces into areas where many people are interacting and passing through. This is counterproductive to the social distancing and self-isolating policies in place.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Encourage retailers to prioritise those over 70 shopping online for essentials

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

Find out the latest updates from Parliament on the COVID-19 outbreak, including ways that you can get involved: https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/covid-19/
 
Are you an academic or researcher? Find out how you can help Parliament scrutinise the Government’s response to coronavirus: https://www.parliament.uk/covid19-researcher-engagement

### What the Petitions Committee is doing

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
 
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
 
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

24 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
24 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Apr 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.