Norfolk County Council scraps free school meal voucher scheme

The free school meal voucher scheme has been dropped by Norfolk County Council

A council's decision to stop the free school meal voucher scheme for pupils over the Easter holidays has been criticised by a single mother-of-two.

Claire Yaxley, of Hainford, near Norwich, said the scheme made a "massive difference" to families.

Ms Yaxley, who is on universal credit and has three jobs, said Norfolk County Council's Holiday Activities and Food scheme would only help some families.

The council said people facing hardship could apply to its assistance scheme.

The government had provided funding for free school meals during the first coronavirus lockdown from 23 March 2020.

England and Man Utd footballer Marcus Rashford ran a high-profile campaign for children on free school meals

In the summer of that year the voucher scheme was due to be dropped, but was reinstated after a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford.

Then in November 2020, the government said it would spend more than £400m to support poor children and their families in England over winter, following another campaign by Rashford.

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Now the government has left it to local councils to decide if they want to support free school meal vouchers.

Peterborough City Council and Norfolk County Council told BBC Politics East that they would not be continuing with the full voucher scheme over the Easter holidays, in contrast with other councils in the East of England.

Peterborough City Council later announced it had decided to fund the voucher scheme again.

Claire Yaxley said the problem was that the alternative activities-and-food scheme was not accessible for all vulnerable families

Ms Yaxley said: "I do not believe that providing this scheme instead of the free school meal vouchers is something that benefits or supports the most vulnerable, and I do not believe it is the fairest way to support families and households in these difficult times."

She said the problem with the activities was that not all children could get on the schemes, travel could be expensive and the schemes were not suitable for all children.

"Working parents can use the scheme for childcare, as I did, and there's a lot to be said for the activities the children do," she said.

"However, it doesn't make sense, at this time when we are all facing rising living costs, to take away the free school meal vouchers from families who need them, and replace it with a scheme that not all families can access.

"The scheme is meant to support vulnerable families, but operates in such a way that the most vulnerable are easily excluded."

Mike Smith-Clare, Labour's county council lead on children and young people, said he could not understand how the council could "turn round and say 'we have a holiday programme' when children are hungry. There is no fun in being hungry".

Andrew Proctor said Norfolk County Council was developing a scheme for a "broader cohort" of families

Andrew Proctor, Conservative leader of the county council, said: "We are developing a new scheme to address hardship using this funding, which aims to make the best use of the money to help a broader cohort of families in need.

"Further details will be announced about this soon.

"Our support for families over the two-week Easter break will be through our Big Norfolk Holiday Fun scheme, which provides fun activities and free lunches for eligible children, and our Norfolk Assistance Scheme, which supports eligible families by providing financial advice and food vouchers.

"Families can also search for local support for food and finances using our community directory."

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council told BBC Politics East, on 29 March: "We're not providing free school meals per se, but we are actually offering a meals and activities scheme during the Easter holidays."

The council said its decision to reinstate the vouchers came after Rishi Sunak's Spring Statement, on 23 March.

In its updated statement, on 1 April, the council said: "Prior to the chancellor's Spring Statement in March, there were no plans to continue the voucher scheme in Peterborough for the Easter holidays.

"However, the chancellor announced in his statement an extension to the Household Support Grant, which enabled Peterborough City Council to make the decision on April 1 to fund the voucher scheme again."

Politics East can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer.

This article was originally published on 2 April and updated on 6 April to reflect Peterborough City Council's change in policy.