A Tory minister has been accused of "misleading" MPs after admitting a long-awaited review into food banks has been "paused".
Will Quince denied misleading Parliament after it emerged the study was abandoned almost a year ago due to coronavirus.
Government officials proposed £217,000 of research in 2018 looking at any "DWP policy that may have contributed to a rise in demand" for the emergency parcels.
Yet today the Work and Pensions Minister confirmed the DWP had only ever commissioned a literature review rather than a full-blown study - a fact the Mirror reported in January.
He added even that smaller-scale study had been "paused" because "we had to reallocate resources due to pandemic".
Universal Credit director-general Neil Couling said the move of 10,000 staff began in April last year.
But Labour MP Neil Coyle pointed out Mr Quince had said last July that the DWP was "conducting" the review and "we aim to publish before the end of the summer".
Mr Coyle asked at a joint committee meeting in Parliament: "In June last year you told Parliament this work was still under way.
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"Have you inadvertently misled Parliament about this work?"
Mr Quince replied: "No, because as I say it's an external literature review.
© Getty ImagesHe insisted there were
"It is an ongoing process - what we're doing is taking research that's out there in the public domain, largely from food insecurity charities and organisations that are supporting food insecure households and then we are in effect analysing it.
"That work is ongoing."
The minister claimed there had been "confusion" on the issue because the leaked plans for a study in 2018 were "never actually commissioned".
He added questions on food insecurity have been included in the Family Resources Survey since spring 2019, and the first results should be published later this month.
He also insisted there are "many many drivers of food bank use" and it was possible the desperation of Universal Credit claimants was simply "correlation".
But Mr Quince admitted the work on a literature review was "in effect paused", saying: "Because of the pandemic, as with other research projects, we had to reallocate resources."
He added: "I can't apologise for the fact that we prioritised making sure people got paid in full and on time."