Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the ECORYS evaluation of the 2019 Holiday Activities and Food scheme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Last year, we commissioned Ecorys to carry out an independent evaluation of our 2019 Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
The completion and publication of the final report has been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. We continue to work with Ecorys on this and their report will be published at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2020 to Question 47237 on Free School Meals: Blackpool, what criteria his Department used to assess bids for the summer 2020 schemes.
Answered by Vicky Ford
In October 2019, we announced £9 million for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2020 and invited organisations to bid to coordinate free holiday provision for disadvantaged children in a local authority area during the 2020 summer holidays.
All of the bids received were assessed against the criteria published in our ‘Invitation to bid’ which has been attached.
Each bid was then ranked according to their score and we selected the ten highest scoring bids for funding. The level of funding allocated to each successful bid was in line with the scale and nature of their proposed programme, as detailed in their respective bids.
We will publish the list of successful bidders for 2020 this month.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support the families of pupils on free school meals in Blackpool during the school summer holidays in 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
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.
Blackpool Opportunity Area funded a summer activity with food programme across 6 of the most disadvantaged wards in Blackpool, combining healthy eating, arts and craft and sports with provision of food in the holidays in 2019. This included the development of a local authority, public health and community and voluntary sector partnership, which has continued enabling groups to work together to secure additional funding from the Sunday Times Christmas Campaign. Plans for this summer are not yet confirmed.
This summer, our holiday activities and food programme will ensure thousands of disadvantaged children in England have access to healthy meals and holiday activities – building on the success of the 2018 and 2019 programmes – and we remain committed to supporting children and families through the disruption caused by COVID-19. We will announce the successful local areas shortly.
In addition, the government continues to invest significantly each year on welfare benefits for people of working age, supporting people when they need it, including those who are out of work or on a low income. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the government’s package of support in response to COVID-19 is one of the largest in the world. We have increased Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by over £1,000 a year for this financial year, benefiting over 4 million households and increased Local Housing Allowance rates, putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets. Taken together, these measures provide over £6.5 billion of additional support through the welfare system for people affected by COVID-19, the biggest ever in Universal Credit.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department received a bid from Blackpool Council for the summer 2020 bidding round of the Holiday Activities and Food scheme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
A bid for funding for the 2020 Holiday Activities and Food programme was submitted by Blackpool Council.
We are now in the process of negotiating grant agreements with the successful bidders and we will announce the successful and unsuccessful areas publicly in due course.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance on nutritional standards his Department issues to private contractors providing school meals.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.
Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools. We expect all academies and free schools to comply with the standards, and since 2014 we have made this an explicit requirement in their funding agreements.
Governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations. Guidance on the Standards, and further resources for schools, are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in (a) Blackpool and (b) Lancashire local authority areas have received funding through the National School Breakfast Programme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department is investing up to £35 million in the National Schools Breakfast Programme (NSBP) to kick-start or improve sustainable breakfast clubs in up to 2,450 schools in disadvantaged areas. This includes the recently announced extension to the NSBP which will support up to an additional 650 schools with up to £11.8 million being invested in 2020-21. Please find the list of participating schools from Blackpool and Lancashire attached.
Prior to the launch of the National Schools Breakfast Programme there was already a successful local authority scheme operating within Blackpool. The scheme, run through Blackpool Council, entitles all primary school children to a free breakfast.