Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the national voucher scheme to cover the half-term holiday in May and the six-week summer holiday.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
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 for schools is set out below:
During this period, we are asking schools to support pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.
Voucher codes are being processed and many thousands of families are redeeming them. Edenred has reported that over £101.5 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme as of Friday 22 May. Edenred has reported that 17,000 schools had placed orders for the scheme as of Tuesday 12 May.
Families are free to select the most appropriate food and drink for their child. When selecting products, we encourage families to consider health and nutrition. The School Food Standards may act as a useful guide for families and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england.
The vouchers should not be redeemed for any age-restricted items, such as alcohol, cigarettes or lottery tickets.
There are a number of online resources available to support families in preparing healthy and nutritious food, including on the NHS Eat Well website: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/?tabname=recipes-and-tips.
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, during the Easter holidays the department met the costs of offering free school meals to eligible pupils not attending school during term time weeks. This was in recognition of the unprecedented levels of disruption and uncertainty for schools during this time.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the publication on 26 February of the report Implications for Business and Trade of a No Deal Exit on 29 March 2019, what plans they have to mitigate the impact of a 6.3 to 9 per cent shrinking of the UK economy on pupils’ health and wellbeing; and what assessment they have made of a temporary increase in eligibility for free school meal provision to all children from families receiving (1) Universal Credit, and (2) other benefits.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the government’s top priority. Our eligibility criteria for free school meals (FSM) support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by providing a free and healthy school meal each day. This is an important benefit for disadvantaged children. We have no plans to change these criteria, including under a no-deal scenario for exiting the European Union, and have made no assessment of any potential impact on the number of children eligible for FSM in a no-deal scenario.
We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. All local authorities have access to the Eligibility Checking System, which significantly reduces the time otherwise taken to check eligibility. We have also shared a model registration form and guidance, which schools can use as part of their enrolment process. In addition, we provide guidance to work coaches so that they can make Universal Credit recipients and those on income-related legacy benefits aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Education on 19 February (HC219512), whether they plan to seek to increase the number of eligible pupils who claim free school meals; and what assessment they have made of a no-deal Brexit on the number of children eligible for those meals.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the government’s top priority. Our eligibility criteria for free school meals (FSM) support children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds by providing a free and healthy school meal each day. This is an important benefit for disadvantaged children. We have no plans to change these criteria, including under a no-deal scenario for exiting the European Union, and have made no assessment of any potential impact on the number of children eligible for FSM in a no-deal scenario.
We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. All local authorities have access to the Eligibility Checking System, which significantly reduces the time otherwise taken to check eligibility. We have also shared a model registration form and guidance, which schools can use as part of their enrolment process. In addition, we provide guidance to work coaches so that they can make Universal Credit recipients and those on income-related legacy benefits aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money is allocated to food per day for children in care.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested is not held centrally.
The amount of money allocated to food for each child in care is for the placement provider or carer to determine.
In 2017/18, local authorities spent a total of £8.83 billion on children’s social care services; however, the department does not request information on the proportion of this that was spent on food.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £2.30 currently allocated under the universal infant free school meals grant for each child receiving school lunches is spent on food.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
For universal infant free school meals, the £2.30 per meal rate is provided to schools via a direct grant. This covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated with providing the meals. It is for schools to decide how to allocate their budgets in order to provide these meals.