Free School Meals
Lord Rennard Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
I do apologise if the noble Lord felt rebuffed. But, as he will be aware, in addition to the support that has been given to disadvantaged children, there are now over 500,000 devices. So the needs of disadvantaged children are a priority for the Government, and £350 million of the catch-up fund is directed to disadvantaged children. In addition to that, although again it sounds like a big figure, we will never know how many children have avoided needing free school meals thanks to the £53 billion of taxpayers’ money that has been used to support businesses during this period, which paid for the furlough scheme and other schemes.
Lord Rennard (LD)
My Lords, I too am one of the few Members of the House of Lords who depended on free school meals, and it never made sense to me that you got this sort of support in term time but nothing in the school holidays. Can the Minister tell the House when Ministers will stop saying publicly that they agree with Marcus Rashford while voting down his proposals? Is it not time to do the right thing?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the Government have an overall principle that the best way for families is to be in work, but, when they are not in work, the universal credit system provides funding for those families. That has been the traditional means, so we have not expected all schools to be open during the holidays to provide those meals. It is a free school meal, and the vouchers were given because of course schools were closed during term time. Supplementary programmes such as holiday and breakfast clubs have been in addition to that.
Covid-19 Summer Food Fund
Lord Rennard Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, as I have outlined to other noble Lords, the Government keep decisions under review. We have listened, we recognise the pressures that families will be under this particular summer due to the Covid crisis, and we have responded to that. As I said, 1.3 million children will benefit; at £15, this payment is actually higher than the sums normally given to schools to provide free school meals. Schools are encouraged to make provision if they can during the holidays and to operate their food parcel system. If they cannot, the voucher system is available to children.
Lord Rennard (LD) [V]
The Minister will be familiar with the phrase, “More joy in heaven for one sinner that repents”. So the U-turn is welcome. But how are the Government pursuing my suggestion, made to the Minister last week, about asking the big supermarkets involved to contribute to the cost of the scheme—or, better still, to provide additional benefits to those using the vouchers?
Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, as requested, I have taken this forward with colleagues in BEIS and will have a reply imminently ready for the noble Lord. In relation to the operation of the scheme, the cost to the taxpayer is the face value of the vouchers. The administration costs of the scheme are borne in the arrangement between Edenred, the supplier, and the supermarkets themselves.
Free School Meal Vouchers Scheme
Lord Rennard Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, as I have outlined, the vouchers scheme was in addition to the funding given to schools to provide free school meals on the premises. It has always been the position that free school meals provision was when schools were open, and it is not expected that schools will be open throughout the summer holiday. There has been a £6.5 billion injection into the DWP budget and more than 1 million food parcels have been distributed through Defra and other government departments. There is support out there for those who need provision.
Lord Rennard (LD) [V]
My Lords, should not the Government negotiate a deal for some form of reimbursement to themselves from the large supermarkets involved in this scheme, many of which are making good profits from the crisis? This could perhaps enable the scheme to be extended. In any event, the poorest children should be our priority.
Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, I will take back to my colleagues in BEIS the novel and motivational idea that the noble Lord outlines. As we have seen, those in the supermarkets have been essential workers during this time of crisis. As I have outlined, we are in discussion with Magic Breakfast and Family Action about breakfast club provision during the summer holidays.