Thank you again for your email regarding your concerns on Free School Meals vouchers, I thought I would update you.
Following on from my previous email which stated I would continue to raise constituent concerns with the Government, I am pleased to announce The Work and Pensions Secretary has unveiled a Winter Support Package to support children, families and the most vulnerable over winter.
I mentioned before the £63 million already provided this year to support the most vulnerable, well a further £170 million Covid Winter Grant Scheme will be run by councils in England as announced.
This will allow councils to directly help the hardest hit families and individuals, as well as provide food for children who need it over the holidays. Local councils understand which groups need support, and are best placed to ensure appropriate holiday support is provided – which is why they will distribute the funds rather than schools, who will continue providing meals for disadvantaged children during term-time.
Additionally, the Holiday Activities and Food programme will be expanded covering Easter, Summer and Christmas 2021, with funding up to £220 million. This will build upon previous programmes which have provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018, including this summer which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities. Consequently, all children eligible for Free School Meals will have the option to join a holiday-time programme that provides healthy food and fun activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays next year.
I hope you agree this is a really positive step.
Furthermore, the value of Healthy Start vouchers will increase which supports pregnant women and those with children under 4 who have a low income and are in receipt of benefits to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. This will help people to boost the long-term health of their children. In addition, the government have pledged an additional £16 million for food distribution charities.
We all want to make sure no child goes hungry over the Christmas holidays so we can continue to improve life opportunities and level up across the country. This package will enable local authorities to target support where it is needed the most and support families who are in particularly challenging circumstances due to coronavirus.
Fundamentally, we need a long-term strategy to help deal with the issue of hunger, and as I mentioned in my previous email I think it is right to build on that strategy while providing funds to target the immediately most vulnerable.
For your interest you can find further information here:
I will continue to follow this issue up and work to get fairer funding for Leicestershire and our communities to do so.
Once again if you are aware of anyone who is struggling please do urge them to get in contact with me so I can take their case forward.