Holiday hunger funding plans

Boris Johnson vowed “no child will go hungry this Christmas” in a second U-turn on the provision of free school meals during school holidays after Conservative MPs voted against plans to support vulnerable families out of term time.

The Prime Minister has unveiled a multi-million pound winter support package including a £170m grant for local authorities and a £220m expansion of the government’s Holiday Food and Activities Programme as well as plans to increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers for women and an additional £16m for inundated food distribution charities.

Here, CYP Now unpicks the details of the package sent to local authorities before an “urgent” meeting was held to “discuss delivery arrangements” of the grant just six weeks before the Christmas holidays.

Covid Winter Food Grant

The Department for Work and Pensions has told local authorities that funds from the £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme will be issued to county councils and unitary authorities including metropolitan councils and London boroughs.

A letter sent to councils, seen by CYP Now, states “it is clear that this support will need to cover children at risk of going hungry” and advises that at least 80 per cent of the total funding should be ringfenced to support families with children to be spent on food, water and energy bills.

However, it suggests that eligibility for funding extends to just “some families who normally have access to free school meals during term time” and gives councils flexibility to provide families with cash, food or supermarket vouchers.

Up to 20 per cent of the total funding should then be issued to child-free households.

Funding is expected to cover the period from early December until the end of March 2021, guidance states, and will be distributed based on an authority’s population and levels of deprivation.

Holiday Food and Activities Programme

The government has also promised a £220m expansion of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, originally launched in 2018, to provide healthy meals and activities to disadvantaged families during school breaks.

The scheme will run up to and including Easter 2021 and will be available to all local authorities, the government has said.

The announcement came after MPs voted against a motion calling for free school meals to be provided to eligible children over school holidays until April 2021.

Among those to vote against the motion was Education Secretary Gavin Williamson who insisted that outside of term time families are already supported through Universal Credit and other benefits.

Meanwhile, a high-profile campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford saw more than one million people sign a petition calling for an extension of free school meals over school holidays.

The government estimates that the cost of providing free school meals to 1.4 million currently eligible children for two weeks is around £40m.

However, latest research from the Trussell Trust suggests that a further 900,000 families have been plunged into poverty by the pandemic – it has prompted some experts to question whether this new funding will be sufficient to support vulnerable families and if more will be made available after next March (see below).

Best solution for local needs

By Zoe McIntyre, project manager, Children’s Right2Food Campaign

The Winter Food Package is an opportunity to respond to the urgent crisis this Christmas – it’s now vital that government and local authorities move quickly to reach families facing hardship, including those with no recourse to public funds, to ensure they access the local provision that’s available.

Promotion and signposting are essential, with government and local authorities working closely with schools, caterers and local partners to explore the best possible route to support families, be it cash payments, vouchers or food hampers that fulfil a child’s nutritional needs.

While we look forward to the roll-out of the Holiday Food and Activity Programme next year, we must keep in mind that this programme will not reach all children in need of support and the issue of child food insecurity, like the pandemic, isn’t going away until long-lasting solutions are in place.

Give parents cash to spend

By Louisa McGeehan, director of policy, rights and advocacy, Child Poverty Action Group

We are calling for the £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to be given as cash to families wherever possible.

This allows families the dignity and flexibility of making their own choices about how to meet their children’s needs. We want parents to be able to buy food for their families, and also be able to heat their homes and buy clothing, learning materials and other things their children need. This support must be widely promoted and available to all those facing hardship – including families with no recourse to public funds who are some of the poorest households.

We welcome that the government is taking action to address the immediate crisis we face and improving support for families during the holidays, but when it comes to tackling child poverty in a lasting way, families across the UK need more secure incomes to keep their heads above water.

Agencies must work together

By Richard Watts, chair of resources board, Local Government Association

Councils will be building on the support that they have put in place via their local welfare schemes, and local partnerships working to target the previous £63m from the government. There are clearly considerable challenges in ensuring that this new money is targeted as effectively as possible, particularly given the timescales.

Councils will be engaging with key partners including schools and voluntary and community sector organisations to identify need and strengthen referral pathways.

We are urgently seeking clarity on how the Holiday Food and Activities Programme will be extended, so that councils can achieve the right balance between targeted food provision, and wider preventative services.

No young person should have to go hungry and ensuring vulnerable pupils are provided for is a top priority for councils.