Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether arrangements are in place to allow schools to purchase free school meal vouchers direct from local supermarkets during the covid-19 lockdown.

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

Our latest guidance on providing free school meals at this time is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.

Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi were added to this scheme and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. As of the 7^th May, Edenred report that £58 million has been converted into supermarket vouchers by families and schools. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.

If families are not able to access any of the supermarkets which are part of the national voucher scheme, schools are able to purchase vouchers directly for alternative supermarkets. Schools can be reimbursed for the cost of these alternatives through the schools coronavirus exceptional costs fund, up to £15 per pupil per week. This funding covers unavoidable additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.