Free School Meals: Voucher Schemes

(asked on 27th April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students who are entitled to free school meals are participating in the Government's food voucher scheme in (a) South Yorkshire and (b) the UK.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 4th May 2020

As my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by Covid-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children and we encourage this approach where it is possible.

However, 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 as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

Voucher codes are being processed and many thousands of families are redeeming them. As of 28 April, our supplier Edenred reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme. As of Monday 4 May, Edenred has reported that over £47 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.

Schools are able to order a single voucher to the value of £15 each week for every child eligible for benefits-related free school meals who is not attending school. This is more generous than the weekly amount provided to schools for provision of free school meals, recognising that families will not buy in bulk and will therefore not be able to achieve the same economies of scale.

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