South Shields MP calls for opt-out food voucher system

South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck says people would have an "opt-out" option for the scheme

Low-income parents should be automatically enrolled to receive support to feed their young children, an MP has said.

Weekly Healthy Start vouchers range from £4.25 to £8.50, but South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck said there were concerns about uptake.

Paper vouchers were replaced with prepaid cards last year.

The government said eligibility for benefits was kept under continuous review.

The NHS Business Service Authority said £92m had been spent using the cards.

The vouchers offer support to pregnant women or parents of children up to the age of four to pay for milk, baby formula, fruit and some vitamin supplements.

Research by the charity Feeding Britain last year found of 449,748 potential beneficiaries, just 231,746 were enrolled.

'Missing out'

Speaking to Politics North, Ms Lewell-Buck, a Labour MP, said she had cross-party support for a Private Members' Bill that would require eligible families to be signed-up by default.

"It would make it automatic with an opt-out option if people didn't feel they wanted it, but I can't imagine, when we're preceding over the levels of poverty that we're seeing, that anyone would.

"At the moment about 50% of families are missing out. In 2021, the government sent it digital and even more people are missing out."

She also raised concerns that the value of the vouchers had not risen in line with inflation, however this is not part of the bill.

James MacMillan says the process of getting the vouchers was "simple"

James MacMillan from Penrith used the "very helpful" scheme when his daughter was born.

"It was helping support us [to] make sure they have adequate supply of all the main food groups," he said.

"They have a simple form that you fill in, it's very straight forward. They approach you, which is very helpful."

The Department of Health and Social Care said the value of the NHS Healthy Start scheme benefit increased in April 2021 from £3.10 to £4.25 a week and there were currently no plans to increase it again.

A statement added: "Children aged under one receive £8.50 in total per week, a rise from £6.20 per week."

"Eligibility for NHS Healthy Start aligns closely with eligibility for other passported benefits across government and is kept under continuous review."

An NHS Business Services Authority spokesman said the number of beneficiaries on the scheme had increased by more than 20,000 since August 2021 and there had been more than 478,000 successful applications since the vouchers became digital.