The Department for Education said schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed as part of social distancing measures designed to stem the spread of the virus.
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Schools will have the opportunity to continue to provide meals for collection or delivery themselves, but where this is not possible, the scheme will allow schools to provide vouchers to families electronically, or as a gift card for those without internet access.
The vouchers will be valid at a range of shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S.
The DfE said it is working to get more shops to join the scheme as soon as possible.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “I recognise that the unprecedented action this government is taking to protect the country from coronavirus, including closing schools, is affecting the lives of many families.
“I want to thank schools for the support they are continuing to provide to families during such uncertain times.
“No child should go hungry as a result of the measures introduced to keep people at home, protect the NHS and save lives. That’s why we are launching this scheme to make sure children who usually benefit from free school meals still have access to healthy and nutritious meals while they are not attending school.”
Parents will receive the voucher through their child’s school, which can then be redeemed online via a code, or sent to their house as a gift card and used at supermarkets across the country.
The DfE said schools will be emailed today (Tuesday 31 March) by the organisation administering the scheme, Edenred.
They will then be able to order vouchers individually online and have a code sent via email to each family, with the family then showing the code on their phone at the supermarket.
Alternatively they can arrange a bulk order of multiple codes and receive an excel spreadsheet to help them organise sending on to a family, or create an eGift card for a preferred supermarket to be posted to a family if parents cannot get online.
The total value of vouchers available per eligible child per week exceeds the rate paid to schools for free school meals, recognising that families will not be buying food in bulk and may therefore incur higher costs.
Judith Blake, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young Peoples Board, said: “No young person should have to go hungry and ensuring vulnerable pupils, including those on free school meals and with special educational needs and disabilities, are provided for is a top priority for councils and schools.
“The LGA has been calling for a national scheme to avoid each local area setting up its own arrangements, so today’s announcement is good news.
“There are already an estimated 1.3 million young people entitled to free school meals, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has meant that there are now a large number of families signing up to benefits.
“We want to work with the government to ensure that struggling families are able to access the scheme as soon as possible. The government should also consider extending the voucher scheme to cover families over the school holidays.”
The National Education Union (NEU) said it was "relieved" that the government had delivered on its promise to provide free school meals amid school closures but said it was "disappointing" the scheme would not be available over the two-week Easter break.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary at the NEU, said: "This isn’t a normal school holiday and we are asking teachers and support staff to volunteer to work, in support of the NHS. Families on low incomes will need access to school meals during this fortnight, particularly as food banks are seriously overstretched and it is much harder to shop affordably at the moment."
New guidance for schools on free school meals has also been published by the DfE.
Charity the Food Foundation has shared results of a YouGov survey highlighting that more than half of parents are worried about feeding their families during the crisis.
