Government makes u-turn over free school meals

By Liz Wells in Industry News 9th November 2020

The government has unveiled a funding package to help ease child food poverty following the campaign led by England footballer Marcus Rashford.

Children and families will now get extra support this winter, with councils given new funding to ensure vulnerable households do not go hungry or without essential items, this includes:

£170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to support children, families and the most vulnerable over winter
Holiday Activities and Food programme to be expanded, covering Easter, Summer and Christmas in 2021
Healthy Start payments set to rise from £3.10 to £4.25 a week from April 2021.

In response, James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, tweeted: “The increase in value and reach of Healthy Start vouchers is really important. Retailers can take part to benefit their business and community.”

Samantha Coldbeck, business partner at Wharfedale Premier in Hull, which stepped in to provide school meals, told Talking Retail: “The government’s decision is welcome as many families in our area are struggling with a sudden change in circumstances due to Covid. Although the government is funding an awful lot of incentives at the moment, we have to ensure those on low incomes and their children are looked after in the pandemic.”

Anna Taylor, executive director of The Food Foundation, added: “Today’s announcement shows the government is serious about tackling children’s food poverty – funding programmes worth more than £400m that will improve the lives of more than 1.7million children over the next 12 months. Together this represents significant progress on two of the three calls in Marcus Rashford’s petition and the National Food Strategy Part 1.

“But we must keep in mind that a similar number of disadvantaged children (around 1.7 million) will continue to miss out on the benefits of free school meals and healthy start because the qualifying income criteria are currently set far too low. Children’s food poverty, like the pandemic, will not go away until we have a lasting solution in place. We’ve started the journey today, thanks to the government’s commitment, and we need to see it through so we can end child food poverty.”