The Liberal Democrats are calling for the “deeply flawed” voucher
scheme for administering free school meals during the lockdown to
be bolstered by cash to families, in the form of an uplift in child
benefit of £150 per week per child, and £100 for every subsequent
child in the family.
Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran has warned
the flaws meant that “many vulnerable children are still falling
through the cracks and going hungry.”
According to the Liberal Demcorats, many parents in rural areas
currently have no shop near them that is part of the scheme, and
that the complex process for the vouchers disadvantaged families
with low incomes and poor internet connectivity.
The call comes after MPs on the Education Committee criticised
the scheme heavily yesterday.
Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran said:
"Too many vulnerable children are still falling through the
cracks and going hungry. The Government needs to acknowledge that
this voucher scheme is deeply flawed and provide parents with an
urgent child benefit uplift of £150 per child.
"For parents in rural areas, increasing cash available to
families would make it much easier to get food for their kids -
at the moment, their only local shop is unlikely to be part of
the scheme. And the complicated online system unfairly
disadvantages families with low incomes and poor internet
connectivity."
ENDS.
Notes to editors:
Please see Layla Moran's letter below.
Dear Gavin,
I hope that you and your family are well and staying safe during
this time.
The Government’s free school meals voucher scheme has of course
been welcomed, and the recent news of Aldi joining the scheme was
reassuring for many families in England.
However, it is increasingly clear that no matter what
improvements are made to the voucher system, many vulnerable
children will still fall through the cracks. The Government
cannot carry on as normal while families can't feed their
children because their local (and sometimes only) shop is not on
the Government’s voucher scheme.
With the experience of my own constituents in mind, I believe
that the Government should uplift child benefit payments by £150
per child (and £100 for each subsequent child in a family),
echoing calls by the Children’s Society and what has been
implemented in France, in order to make sure that no child falls
through the cracks.
Cash payments from this uplift to child benefit payments means
that: parents in urban areas will have more choice regarding
where they can buy their food; parents in more rural areas will
be able to buy the food in the first place (as many of their
local shops aren’t on Edenred’s scheme); and, nationally, parents
will have a back-up if they cannot use the complex, online,
bureaucratic process which disproportionately disadvantages
families with low incomes and poor internet connectivity.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, giving
oral evidence to the Education Committee on 22 April, stated that
the voucher scheme is just a “backup” (as schools should be
making sure that the school’s meal provider(s) are delivering the
meals to the children that need them) but that hundreds of
thousands of people are using it. The Government, and your
Department, has tried to make this work, but the scheme is not
reaching everybody who needs it, and seems to be significantly
over-subscribed for a “back- up” plan.
With an uplift in child benefit payments per child to cover the
increased costs of children learning from home, the Government
will be putting money (and trust) in the hands of parents, so
that they can provide their children with the food they need to
see them through their school day, at home.
Thank you in advance for reading my letter and considering what I
have recommended. We look forward to hearing back from you.
Yours sincerely,
Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson
