Schools: Food

(asked on 22nd April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the National School Food Voucher Scheme; and what comparative assessment he has made between the effectiveness of that scheme and other initiatives schools are using.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 1st May 2020

During this period, we are asking schools to support pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food suppliers wherever possible. We recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme, with costs covered by the Department for Education (DfE).

The DfE assessed several options prior to launch. Our priority has been ensuring that the families most in need are continuing to receive support.

Schools providing meals or vouchers themselves can be reimbursed for any additional costs, with further details available in the published guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools.

We are monitoring the use of the scheme on a daily basis. Voucher codes are being processed and many thousands of families are already redeeming them.

As of Wednesday 29 April, Edenred reported that over £35 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.

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