Child Food Poverty

Vicky Ford Excerpts

Monday 24th May 2021 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Vicky Ford)]

As ever, Mr Bone, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I thank everyone who has signed the petition for securing this important debate, and I thank Marcus Rashford for launching the petition, which promotes the crucial work of the National Food Strategy’s independent review. This Government are dedicated to supporting all children and families, especially the most vulnerable. The Government are fully considering all the recommendations of the National Food Strategy, and I am pleased to be able to report on the actions already taken on the recommendations that are covered in this petition.

During this pandemic, this Government have not only been listening; they have been acting. The Government have taken substantial action to provide additional support to families and children at this incredibly challenging time, including investing an additional £7.4 billion last year to strengthen the welfare system, because supporting those on lower incomes and vulnerable families and their children is at the heart of this Government’s response. The petition calls on the Government to ensure that Healthy Start vouchers are worth at least £4.25 a week. That has already been done: from April, Healthy Start payments increased from £3.10 to that £4.25 a week. The scheme supports pregnant women and those with children under the age of 4 on lower incomes to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and the Government are developing a digital approach that will make it much easier for families to apply for, and use, this Healthy Start benefit.

When it comes to holiday activities and food, the petition calls on the Government to provide those meals and activities over the holidays. Again, this is an area on which we have taken action. Families welcome support during school holidays, especially in the long summer break. Children benefit from engaging holiday activities, which help them to be ready to learn when they return to school. I am therefore delighted that after three years of our developing these schemes through really successful pilots, we are now able to expand the holiday activities and food programme all across England this year. The programme launched this Easter in every local authority, and will provide support this summer and Christmas, too.

The programme is available to children in every local authority in England. It provides not only food, but opportunities to have fun and make new friendships—things that children have so missed out on this year. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to visit clubs in Ipswich, in Stoke, and in my own constituency and elsewhere in Essex. I have seen at first hand the real benefits that some of those vulnerable children get from attending the clubs. Those activities are a vital component of our recovery work and of levelling up, because these kids build their confidence, which helps them to tackle the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. I ask Members please not to diss these clubs, but to get behind them in their constituencies and support them and their children.

Thirdly, the petition calls for the free school meals eligibility criteria to be further extended. During term time, the Government already support schools to provide a free school meal to over 1.6 million pupils from the lowest-income families, because that helps them to concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom. The Government have already extended free school meals to more groups of children than any other Government for the past half century. We extended free school meals to all infant children back in 2014, and to students at further education institutions from disadvantaged backgrounds at the same time. During the pandemic, we further expanded free school meals eligibility to many of those families who have no recourse to public funds.

The right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) asked for an update about our review of support for no recourse to public funds families, which—like so many other areas—involves work from all sorts of different Departments. However, he knows that the review is progressing, that it is drawing conclusions, and that we hope to report back soon. He knows this because he met the Secretary of State for Education just a few weeks ago to discuss that review. So, yes, we are doing this work, and we will work not only with other organisations but across parties, because this issue is about getting the best support for children and it should not be a party political issue.

During the pandemic we also made sure that those who become eligible for free school meals can get immediate access to those meals. As well as lunchtime meals, the Government support more than a quarter of a million children with our breakfast clubs in more than 2,450 schools in the most disadvantaged areas of the country. We have recently announced another £24 million to continue and expand our breakfast club programme.

Throughout the pandemic, we spent almost £0.5 billion on food vouchers, so that children had access to food when schools were restricted from opening. My colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions have also provided local authorities with an additional £269 million of local welfare funding.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds) pointed out, local authorities know their local needs best. This funding has helped local authorities to provide targeted support to families and individuals, keeping them warm and well fed. Its principal focus is on supporting disadvantaged children and families, both in term time and in the holidays. The scheme will run right through until 21 June, which is the end of this stage of the road map.

Our expanded holiday activities programme will run this summer, in every local authority in England, and we are exploring any additional support that may be needed through the summer. Fundamentally, it is right that free school meals remain primarily targeted at those on the lowest income, but the Government will fully consider eligibility, alongside the other recommendations of the national food strategy.

[Catherine West]

Will the Minister give way?

[Vicky Ford]

I cannot take interventions because we are really short of time, and I want the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) to have time to respond.

Education is the No.1 route to opportunity and prosperity. Because this Government believe in levelling up for young as well as older age groups, we invest more in the education of disadvantaged students so that they can unlock the best life chances. Our weighted national funding formula and the £2.5 billion spent annually on pupil premium funds academic interventions as well as important pastoral initiatives.

Furthermore, we invested £1 billion in the covid catch-up fund, including investing in the national tutoring programme, which offers high-quality tutoring to small groups of disadvantaged pupils who have fallen further behind. Just a couple of weeks ago, I saw this programme first hand working with a group of five-year-olds and helping with their early language skills. We are working on this project with 40% of our primary schools across the country. The national tutoring programme is making sure that those children who need it most get the best send-off on their education journey.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland (Jerome Mayhew) pointed out, work is the best route out of poverty for families. After taking into account housing costs, a child living in a household where every adult is working is about four times less likely to be in absolute poverty than a child in a household where nobody works. Therefore, through my colleagues at DWP, we are doubling the number of work coaches to help people find a job. Our brilliant kickstart scheme is offering work placements for 16 to 24-year-olds and the skills Bill not only unlocks new opportunities for young people, but, through the lifelong learning grant, it will open up opportunities for people of all ages to access new skills and opportunities, and find better paid jobs. All of this helps families and children.

I am grateful for the support that hon. Members have given this agenda today. I thank everybody who contributed to the national food strategy, especially Henry Dimbleby for his leadership. I am delighted, as hon. Members might have heard in the tone of my voice, about the roll out of the holiday activities and food programme. I hope hon. Members will get behind those programmes in their constituencies this summer.

As agreed at the start of the review, the Government will fully consider all the recommendations of the national food strategy and we will respond more fully following the next and final report, which is due in the summer. The Government are taking a wide range of comprehensive measures to support children and their families at this very difficult time. The health and the happiness of children will remain at the heart of Government as we build back better from this pandemic.