Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the monthly cost to the public purse of the provision of £15 weekly food vouchers for pupils eligible for Free School Meals.

Our national voucher scheme supplier, Edenred, has reported that over £380 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by families through the scheme as of 19 August 2020. The scheme was launched on 31 March 2020. Over 20,350 schools have placed orders for the scheme as of 28 July. The free school meal (FSM) voucher scheme has now closed. Now schools and their kitchens are open, normal free school meal provision has resumed, enabling children to have a nutritious healthy meal at school.

Our latest FSM guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.