Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Government is providing to schools that wish to access free school meals vouchers from a retailer not listed on the Government’s National Voucher Scheme.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach where it is 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. As of 28 April our supplier, Edenred, reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme and as of Monday 4 May, Edenred has reported that over £47 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.

Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi was added to this list and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.

If the national voucher scheme is not suitable for families in their local area, schools can provide alternative vouchers for a local shop or supermarket and can be reimbursed for associated costs.

We are providing additional funding to schools to cover unavoidable additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. This includes free school meal costs which are not covered by the national voucher system in situations where there is no access to appropriate local supermarkets