Coronavirus: Children's food vouchers scheme scrapped

The Welsh Government has scrapped plans to introduce a national voucher scheme for children eligible for free school meals during the coronavirus outbreak.

Councils had been asked to continue with arrangements for free school meal delivery during the Easter break for "a national voucher scheme" to be set up.

But the education minister has decided not to introduce a Wales-wide supermarket voucher system.

Alternative plans will be announced within days.

The Welsh Government said these would include additional funding for councils until September if required.

The decision comes after there were problems with a similar scheme in England. and it has been welcomed by Welsh council representatives .

A spokesperson for the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) added: "It's important that local authorities are given flexibility to provide free school meals to eligible children in a way that best suits distinct needs and circumstances in each area."

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But Carrie Harper, a Plaid Cymru councillor in Wrexham, said the local authority, like others across Wales, had "been waiting weeks for the Welsh Government's free school meal voucher to be rolled out".

"Precious time has now been lost which could have been better spent coming up with a better system locally," she said.

With schools shut for the vast majority of pupils during the pandemic, the Welsh Government has made up to £7m available to councils to continue to provide pupils from the poorest families with free school meals.

Local authorities have various options for the delivery of free school meals:

• "Grab and go" scheme for parents to pick-up food parcels from certain centres

• Direct delivery services

• Direct transfer of cash to a parent's bank account

• Vouchers or gift cards for parents to use at local supermarkets or shops

The introduction of a nationwide supermarket voucher scheme has been scrapped but the Welsh Government will "announce plans for what happens beyond April next week but can confirm this will include additional funding for local authorities to last until September if required".

A Welsh Government spokesperson added: "Wales was the first UK nation to guarantee funding and guidance for free school meals provision ahead of and during the Easter holidays and for the duration of April. "All local authorities in Wales have made arrangements to support families who rely on free school meals and these arrangements vary according to locally identified need and the resources available. "It is our absolute priority, in these difficult times, that we make sure that everyone who needs that extra bit of support continues to receive it. Our proposed plans will ensure that."