Labour will today use
an opposition day debate in Parliament to call
on the Government to
continue to directly fund provision
of free school meals, including the
free school meal voucher scheme for eligible children over the
summer holidays to ensure a holiday without hunger.
Nearly 1.3 million children in England are eligible for
free school meals. During the Covid-19 pandemic a voucher scheme
to provide food support to children at home was established
instead which, after pressure, was extended to cover the May
half-term. However, the Government has confirmed that it will not
continue the voucher scheme or fund free school meals over the
summer holidays. Labour is calling for this decision to be
reversed as
part of the ‘Holidays without Hunger’ campaign launched on Sunday
14thJune.
Speaking in the opposition day debate,
Rebecca Long
Bailey MP, Shadow Education Secretary will say:
“Any government that is willing to let the poorest children
in the country go hungry needs to take a long hard look
at its priorities.
…Shamefully, children go hungry every
year, but this summer will be especially difficult for many
families as job losses and reduced incomes hit household
budgets…
..It would be deeply callous of the government not to take
this small step to ease the financial pressure on households and
ensure children can eat during the summer holidays.’’
Ends
Notes to editors:
-
Full text of Labour’s motion to be debated during the
Opposition Day today:
That this House welcomes the Government’s decision to
provide schools with their expected funding to cover
benefits-related free school meals including the national voucher
scheme over the Easter and May half-term holidays; notes the
decision of the Welsh Government to guarantee each eligible
child the
equivalent of £19.50 a week up until the end of August to cover
their meals over the summer holidays; and calls on the Government
to continue to directly fund provision
of free school meals, including the
free school meal voucher scheme for eligible children over the
summer holidays to
stop children going hungry during this crisis.
-
The voucher scheme provides £15 worth of vouchers a week
per child eligible for free school meals which can be redeemed
in the following supermarkets: Aldi, Asda, M&S, McColl’s,
Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools
-
The risk of holiday hunger is not unique to the Covid-19
pandemic. Every year children eligible for free school meals
are at risk of holiday hunger and an additional two
million pupils who do not receive free school meals, but
whose parents experience in-work poverty, are also estimated to
be at risk. https://feedingbritain.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/hungry-holidays.pdf
