Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to help provide access to food over the Christmas holidays for school children who live in food poverty.
The department has committed over £200 million this year for the holiday activities and food programme. This provides free holiday club places, including healthy meals, to children from low-income families, and is available in the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. This enables local authorities to provide support to the families who need it most this Christmas.
The government has also extended the Household Support Fund through to March 2023 bringing the total amount provided to local authorities to £1.5 billion since October 2021, enabling them to support children and families this winter.