Free school meals : Government refuses to take a U-turn
The row over free school meals has continued as half-term comes to an end.
Government ministers are adamant they will not give extra funding to children who are at risk of going hungry over the autumn and winter school breaks.
The Government continued the scheme through Easter and were targeted by a campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford to do the same over the summer holidays.
However, they voted not to continue it into the October half term and Christmas holidays.
This has left the task of feeding hungry families to local authorities like Portsmouth City Council, who have pledged £215k to help around 7,050 pupils over the Christmas period.
Portsmouth councillor for children, families and education Suzy Horton said: “I know that the infrastructure for getting vouchers out at Christmas is there, it’s just that it needs some work because the money is now coming from local council rather than central Government.
“What I did not anticipate was the phenomenal response for half term. ‘Free My Meal Portsmouth’ was set up by councillor Claire Udy. That’s got nearly 1000 people on it already, making meals, delivering parcels and at a community level that is amazing.”
