I am grateful to Mr Sloan for courteously inviting me to explain my reasoning on free school meals, and to the Voice for printing my response.
We all agree that no child should go hungry. So, the debate is not about the principle but practice – in other words devising and delivering the optimal package of support for those in need.
I understand the argument for meal vouchers, but as many in rural South Holland and the Deepings live a considerable distance from providers able to credit vouchers, well intentioned proposals suited to big cities would place disproportionate pressure on small rural schools and their staff during the school holidays, leaving many who need it without access to support.
Going forward, I am delighted that the Government has reaffirmed their commitment to providing all eligible children with free school meals during term time, even if they are required to self-isolate. Schools have been provided with guidance to ensure all children have the option of a healthy meal while in school.
We must now do more. Which is why, in addition, £170m is being set aside to help feed disadvantaged children over the Christmas holidays. This will pay for the COVID Winter Grant Scheme to support families over the festive season, while the Holiday Activities and Food programme will be extended to cover the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks in 2021.
Whilst this additional Government support is welcome – and will prove more comprehensive and effective than the proposals previously rejected by Parliament, the only way to provide sustainable support for those who need it most is through the construction of a welfare system sufficiently generous to ensure no child ever needs to go hungry.
To this end, since March, an additional £9bn has been injected into the welfare system above and beyond normal levels of support to help those who are most vulnerable. With the standard allowance for Universal Credit increased from £317.82 to £409.89 a month, support has been directly provided to those on low incomes.
I have personally supported the increase to the basic element of Working Tax Credit by £1,045 to £3,040 from April 6, 2020 until April 5, 2021, benefitting more than four million households, whilst £63m in welfare assistance funding for local authorities was provided to support families with urgent needs over the October half-term.
These welfare measures sit alongside one of the most generous coronavirus support packages in the world, including the income protection schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme which have collectively supported 12.2 million jobs, at a cost of almost £53b for England alone.
Let me reassure Mr Sloane and Voice readers that this Government is steadfastly committed to the elevation of the poorest in society.
That’s why, since 2015, 32 million people have been provided with a tax cut as a result of a rise in the personal tax allowance and I voted in Parliament for measures which have taken 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether.
Measures to ensure no child goes hungry during these difficult times, coupled with a sustainable, effective welfare system should mean that no family will go hungry.
Finally, in these testing times people rightly expect all of us to put political differences aside in the national interest to work for the common good.
Sir John Hayes
MP for South Holland and the Deepings
