Children face postcode lottery in half-term food support

Labour is calling for a transformation in support for families as the government’s decision not to extend free school meals over February half-term leaves 1.4 million children facing a five-day postcode lottery in food support.

Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green has stressed that the government must deliver a step change in support for families to rebuild our country and secure the economy after this pandemic.

With 4.2 million children, or nine in every class of 30 pupils, in poverty before the coronavirus crisis hit, Labour says that throughout the pandemic growing evidence has shown that child poverty has set back children’s education, with children in families that are struggling financially falling furthest behind their peers during national lockdowns.

The opposition party is therefore calling on the government to: extend free school meals across all school holidays this year and establish a cash transfers system to ensure families receive the full value of support; stop the planned cut to universal credit, which could push a further 200,000 children into poverty; back local councils with funding to prevent the planned rise in council tax; and give key workers the pay rise they deserve.

Green said: “A decade of Conservative government had eroded families’ safety nets with poverty rates rising even before the pandemic. The last year has shone a light on the impacts of poverty on health, wellbeing and learning. As we rebuild after this pandemic, we must deliver a transformation in support for families, starting with cancelling the planned cut to Universal Credit and guaranteeing provision of free school meals across all school holidays this year.”