Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when will funding be made available for free school meals for children during summer 2020; when vouchers will be available to all children on free school meals and what the cut off date for eligibility will be.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a COVID Summer Food Fund which will enable families with children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the 6-week holiday period.
Our guidance on the COVID Summer Food Fund is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund.
Through the COVID Summer Food Fund, schools can support eligible pupils with a £90 voucher to cover the 6-week holiday period. Schools must order the vouchers at least one week before their school term ends.
Schools should continue to accept and verify free school meal applications up until the end of the summer term. The eligibility criteria for free school meals can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals. If a school receives a claim for an eligible child during the final week before the school’s summer holidays, it will be possible for the school to place an exceptional order for that child via our supplier Edenred.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will continue the provision of food vouchers for children in need beyond the summer period.
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.
During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits-related free school meals at home, 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. Where this is not possible, we have introduced a national voucher scheme to provide headteachers with additional flexibility to decide what is best for families at their schools. Edenred has reported that over £183 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme as of Wednesday 24 June.
More information about the national voucher scheme is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a COVID Summer Food Fund which will enable families with children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the 6-week holiday period.
Our guidance on the COVID Summer Food Fund is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund.
Through the COVID Summer Food Fund, schools can support eligible pupils with a £90 voucher to cover the 6-week holiday period. Schools must order the vouchers at least one week before their school term ends. If a school receives a claim for an eligible child during the final week before the school’s summer holidays, it will be possible for the school to place an exceptional order for that child via our supplier Edenred.
We are working to ensure all children can return in September, allowing them to have their free school meal at school. The department will be setting out more detail on plans for September in due course.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the free school meal national voucher scheme, whether (a) Edenred's contract as the Government's supplier will be renewed or (b) there will be a competitive tendering process after 21 June 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation this summer. To reflect this, the Edenred contract was extended to enable free school meal provision until the end of the summer term (through the national voucher scheme) and to support the Covid Summer Food Fund.
The free school meal vouchers contract was extended on 22 June following ministerial direction to extend the contract to cover the summer holiday period. In order to ensure families receive the support they needed in a timely manner, the department did not have sufficient time to run a competitive procurement for the extension. The extension did not make any substantial changes to the extant contract as defined by PCR Reg 72(1)(e).
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons Windmill and Low Road primary schools in Leeds have been unable to access the free school meal voucher scheme run by Edenred.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Windmill Primary School and Low Road Primary School have been issued with an activation email from Edenred and user accounts have been created for both schools to order the free school meal vouchers. Using data held by the department, school administrators have been sent a welcome email with details on how to access and activate the school’s account. The welcome email was sent between 31 March and 2 April 2020.
On 19 June both schools asked for their contact emails to be updated and, once verified by the department, they will receive new activation links.
The status of Windmill and Low Road Primary Schools’ account can be checked online using the Edenred public portal. It also includes guidance on how to proceed if schools are experiencing technical problems with accessing their accounts: https://edenreduk.secure.force.com/publicportal/.
Schools who are experiencing technical difficulties with Edenred can contact them directly via the dedicated helpline (0333 400 5932) or an email address (freeschoolmeals@edenred.com) set up specifically for schools participating in the national voucher scheme.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if children who become eligible for free school meals during the school summer holiday period will be able to claim the national school food voucher or alternative from their school.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Our latest guidance on free school meals is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance.
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a Covid Summer Food Fund which will enable families with children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the six-week holiday period.
Our guidance on the Covid Summer Food Fund is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund.
Through the Covid Summer Food Fund, schools can support eligible pupils with a £90 voucher to cover the six-week holiday period. Schools must order the vouchers at least one week before their school term ends. If a school receives a claim for an eligible child during the final week before the school’s summer holidays, it will be possible for the school to place an exceptional order for that child via our supplier Edenred. The completion of orders by the end of term reflects the fact that school staff will break for the summer.
The government has made significant wider support available for children and families at this time. On 10 June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed an additional £63 million to be distributed to local authorities in England to help those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to COVID-19. In addition, the government has introduced an uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by around £1,000 a year for the next 12 months as part of an injection of over £6.5 billion by government into the welfare system.
Additional support has been pledged by various departments across government with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announcing the provision of £16 million for food support through charities, including FareShare and WRAP. DEFRA have also issued 2 million food packages to those who are shielding.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the free school meals voucher scheme to children aged between two and four during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Nurseries in maintained primary schools and maintained nursery schools are able to access the national voucher scheme where they have registered pupils who meet the benefits-related criteria, and who would usually receive education both before and after lunch. Private settings are not covered. Eligible children should receive vouchers at the same rate as school pupils. Newly eligible children will also be supported if they meet the above criteria and maintained nurseries and nursery schools should continue to accept free school meal applications.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of providing the current free school meals voucher scheme during the upcoming summer holidays. [T]
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a Covid Summer Food Fund which will enable children who are eligible for free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the 6-week holiday period. This is a specific measure to reflect the unique circumstances of the outbreak.
The government has made significant wider support available for children and families at this time. On 10 June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed an additional £63 million to be distributed to local authorities in England to help those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to COVID-19. In addition, the government has introduced an uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by around £1,000 a year for the next 12 months as part of an injection of over £6.5 billion by the government into the welfare system.
Additional support has been pledged by various departments across government with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announcing the provision of £16 million for food support through charities, including FareShare and WRAP. DEFRA have also issued 2 million food packages to those who are shielding.
The Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food programme ensures that thousands of disadvantaged children have access to enriching activities and nutritious healthy meals over the summer, and is receiving £9 million this year.
More widely, the government has supported families to cope with the impact of coronavirus by introducing a range of support measures, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. Support has also been provided to help families pay their rent or mortgage, access sick pay, and delay tax payments.
In relation to free school meals, this response applies to educational settings in England only. Education is a devolved matter and it will be for each administration to determine the actions they wish to take.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he plans to make available to the most deprived families to mitigate the cessation of free school meal vouchers over the 2020 summer holidays.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave on 23 June 2020 to Question 54195.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the most deprived families of the cessation of free school meal vouchers over the 2020 summer holidays.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave on 23 June 2020 to Question 54195.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the impact assessment on the decision not to extend the free school meals voucher scheme over the 2020 school summer holidays.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the government fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a Covid-19 Summer Food Fund which will enable families with children who are eligible for free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the 6-week holiday period. This is a specific measure to reflect the unique circumstances of the outbreak.
In response to Covid-19, the government has made significant wider support available for children and families, injecting over £6.5 billion into the welfare system to ensure people are receiving the support they need. This includes increasing the standard rate of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit for this year by around £1,000 per year. On 10 June, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister confirmed an additional £63 million to be distributed to local authorities in England to help those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to COVID-19. A further £3.2 billion has gone to local authorities, supporting them with frontline services. Additionally, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are providing £16 million for food support through charities including FareShare and WRAP. This summer, the department will also again run the Holiday Activities & Food programme, through which thousands of disadvantaged pupils will benefit from support.