Petition · past parliament
Issue one letter/email per household with a unique code for purchasing groceries
Rejected
19 signatures
What the petition asks
Coordinate with local councils to issue 1 letter per household for grocery shopping. Assign a specific day of the week when shopping can be done (online or in store) based on the first letter of the surname. E.g, Monday letter A-E; Mr Doe will shop on Monday only for his family and for the week.
This will reduce the occasion to go out for shopping, allowing the person to shop for one week at the time, whilst maintaining the restricting policies that each supermarket has put in place as to the number of items allowed per product. It would require a conjoined effort between the supermarkets and the public Councils which shall retrieve their information from their database, hence why a centralised decision will help in putting in place such plan. The supermarkets will do the rest.
Why it was rejected
It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
The Government has issued guidance for food businesses on coronavirus, which recommends that supermarkets monitor the number of customers within store and limit access to avoid congestion: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-food-businesses/guidance-for-food-businesses-on-coronavirus-covid-19.
It is up to individual retailers to determine how they implement this guidance.
Further, the Government has made certain changes to enable supermarkets to work together during the coronavirus outbreak, particularly to serve customers who are elderly, ill or vulnerable:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supermarkets-to-join-forces-to-feed-the-nation.
### Further information
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/
It is up to individual retailers to determine how they implement this guidance.
Further, the Government has made certain changes to enable supermarkets to work together during the coronavirus outbreak, particularly to serve customers who are elderly, ill or vulnerable:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supermarkets-to-join-forces-to-feed-the-nation.
### Further information
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
| 25 Mar 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 30 Apr 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
19
Status
Rejected
Rejected
30 Apr 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.