Thousands of children under 7 to miss out on free school meal vouchers
THOUSANDS of school children under the age of seven are set to miss out on free school meals during the coronavirus crisis.
Under normal circumstances, all children in reception, year one and year two automatically get free school meals if they attend a government-funded school - regardless of whether their parents claim benefits.
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But these children won’t be covered as standard by the government’s new scheme, designed to help parents financially while schools are shut due to the spread of COVID-19.
Instead, they’ll only be covered if their parents claim certain benefits.
The policy has been slammed by the Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield who called it "extremely worrying" for the almost one million families who've had to sign up to Universal Credit since the coronavirus outbreak.
In a breakdown of the free school meals guidelines on the website, the Department for Education states: "There is no requirement to continue to provide universal infant free school meals to pupils in reception, year one, or year two who are unable to attend school.
Who qualifies for free school meals?
CHILDREN usually qualify for free school meals if their parents get certain benefits, such as Universal Credit or working tax credit.
You'll likely qualify if you get any of the following:
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of pension credit
- Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working tax credit run-on
- Universal Credit
Before coronavirus hit, children in reception, year one and year two automatically got free school meals if they attend a government-funded school.
This applies whether their parents claim benefits or not.
But while schools are shut due to COVID-19, these children won't be covered unless their parents recieve benefits, as mentioned above.
Under normal circumstances, schools are not expected to provide free school meals to children when they're off sick.
"Children in those year groups who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals will be supported."
Schools across the UK are being given the option to provide families with supermarket vouchers or meals for collection or delivery if their child usually gets free dinners.
The vouchers, worth £15 a week per child, can be spent on food at supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S.
Parents need to apply directly to their child's school to receive the additional help - it's then up to the school to decide whether they'll get vouchers or meals.
If the school is giving out vouchers, these can be emailed or posted to parents.
Around 1.3million children qualify for free school meals.
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, told she's written to Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson to ask him to reconsider what the policy means for children under the age of eight.
She said: "With nearly a million people now signing up to receive Universal Credit, it’s extremely worrying that the gift card scheme for families on free school meals will not be extended to all infants and won’t cover the Easter holidays.
"Now is not the time to be cautious – we need a bold and generous scheme that makes sure no child goes hungry because of the coronavirus emergency."
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered schools to shut to all pupils, except those whose parents are key workers.
While the government has been criticised for not being specific enough in who it deems as "key workers", the list is thought to include working heroes such as nurses, police officers, and delivery drivers.
Read the full list here.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "Our focus is making sure that the 1.3 million disadvantaged children who would normally have a free school meal on a school day do not go hungry as a result of staying home to protect the NHS and save lives.
"We are providing schools with continued funding for free school meals and have launched a national voucher scheme, backed by additional government funding, to make sure all eligible children can still benefit.
"Many schools also have local arrangements in place and are working flexibly with their food suppliers during the school holidays."