Free School Meals: Voucher Schemes

(asked on 15th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who he consulted in making the decision not to extend the free school meals voucher scheme over the school summer holidays in 2020.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 25th June 2020

Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the government fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a Covid-19 Summer Food Fund which will enable families with children who are eligible for free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the 6-week holiday period. This is a specific measure to reflect the unique circumstances of the outbreak.

In response to Covid-19, the government has made significant wider support available for children and families, injecting over £6.5 billion into the welfare system to ensure people are receiving the support they need. This includes increasing the standard rate of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit for this year by around £1,000 per year. On 10 June, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister confirmed an additional £63 million to be distributed to local authorities in England to help those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to COVID-19. A further £3.2 billion has gone to local authorities, supporting them with frontline services. Additionally, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are providing £16 million for food support through charities including FareShare and WRAP. This summer, the department will also again run the Holiday Activities & Food programme, through which thousands of disadvantaged pupils will benefit from support.

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