After weeks of pressure from footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign to feed hungry children, Boris Johnson’s government has announced a £170m grant scheme designed to support families over a winter of coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Johnson discussed the scheme directly with the Manchester United and England star, who tweeted: “Just had a great conversation with the prime minister. Now is the time for collaboration.”
Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey also announced a £220m extension of a holiday activity programme, including meals, to cover England during the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.
The scheme was welcomed as a “lifeline for vulnerable families” by children’s charity Barnados. But Labour said it came too late to help children who went hungry during the October half-term.
The move marks the second time the government has switched policy in response to Rashford’s highly popular campaign with food charity FareShare, after Mr Johnson’s £120m U-turn earlier this year to extend free school meal vouchers over the summer holidays.
The PM came under intense pressure to act after scores of councils, restaurants and football clubs came forward with pledges to supply food to hard-pressed families during the October holidays in response to the Conservatives voting down a Commons motion to provide state funding.
Tory MPs, mayors and councillors, as well as peers and bishops, were among those accusing Mr Johnson of letting down children whose parents were struggling to feed them in half-term because of falling incomes due to coronavirus restrictions.
Rashford’s campaigning forced the issue to the top of the political agenda after he wrote poignantly of his own experience of going hungry as a boy. The striker was awarded the MBE in recognition of his work.
The new funding in the Covid Winter Grant Scheme will go to councils in England to fund support for the most vulnerable households, with at least 80 per cent of the money earmarked to fund food and bills.
Grants will be paid out from the start of December to the end of March, while devolved administrations have already received equivalent sums through an upfront funding guarantee, said a government source.
Ms Coffey’s Department for Work and Pensions said councils were better placed to identify those needing support and provide help during holiday periods than schools, which provide free lunch to disadvantaged children in term-time.
The £170m scheme equates to around two months’s worth of free school meals, which cost around £20m a week to provide.
The extension of the Holiday Activities and Food programme follows a pilot scheme that supported around 50,000 children in 17 local authority areas this summer.
Meanwhile, Healthy Start payments to help low-income pregnant women and mothers of children aged under four buy fresh fruit and vegetables are to be increased from £3.10 to £4.25 a week from April.
The government has also pledged additional funding of £16m for food distribution charities.
Ms Coffey said: “We want to make sure vulnerable people feel cared for throughout this difficult time and, above all, no one should go hungry or be unable to pay their bills this winter.
“We know this has been a challenging time for many and we have consistently supported the lowest-paid families, protecting 9 million jobs with furlough and boosting welfare support by £9.3bn.
“This package builds on that support and by extending our successful Holiday Activities and Food programme as well as funding a £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme we are making sure families get the help they need.”
FareShare chief executive Lindsay Boswell, said: “We welcome the government’s announcement of more support through the continuing Covid-19 pandemic for vulnerable children and families in the UK.
“Making sure children don’t go hungry during the holidays, or when schools are closed, is something FareShare and our ambassador Marcus Rashford have been campaigning on for some time. So the extra funding for local authorities is welcome news.
“But the reality is that many families and individuals will inevitably fall through cracks in the system. And FareShare’s work to provide 2 million meals for vulnerable people each week will go on.”
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “This new scheme is a lifeline for vulnerable families who are struggling to feed their families and heat their homes this winter. It will also help prevent ‘holiday hunger’ throughout 2021.
“Barnardo’s and many other children’s charities have been asking the government to do more for those we support and this package is a welcome step forward.”
And Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green, said: “It is right that the government have finally listened to Labour and other campaigners and offered more support to families struggling to make ends meet, but this should have been announced weeks ago to help the children at risk of going hungry over half term.
“The government’s incompetence and intransigence created needless and avoidable hardship for families across the country.
“This announcement is a necessary starting point, but ministers must ensure no child goes hungry, and bring forward a long-term strategy to tackle child poverty that was rising under this government even before the pandemic.”
