A supermarket voucher scheme for families with children entitled to free school meals will continue for another five months
Rotherham Council’s Cabinet agreed to extend funding for the scheme as part of its response to the cost-of-living crisis.
Nearly 12,000 eligible children in Rotherham currently claim free school meals. Rotherham Council has been funding a scheme which sees supermarket vouchers worth £15 per week per child provided to support families out of term-time since October 2020. The £15 equates to the amount it costs to provide a meal for each child per week when they are in school.
The measures mean that vouchers will continue to be provided to feed children during the early Summer half-term, the six-week Summer-break and the October half-term – which equates to £120 per child.
Since January 2020, the number of children in Rotherham entitled to means-tested free school meals has risen by more than a third, from 8,557 to 11,912, as the impact of the pandemic and soaring prices has hit family budgets.
The £1.4m required to extend the scheme is being met by Rotherham Council’s allocation of the Household Support Fund (HSF), which was extended by the Government through 2022/23 to help councils support those most in need and struggling with the cost of living.
Councillor Victoria Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “Increasing food, fuel and energy prices are hitting many local families hard and we hope continuing this scheme will provide some respite and reassurance to people facing the choice between eating and heating.
“It’s in everyone’s interest that all Rotherham’s children are well-fed, able to learn and engage and school and live their lives to the full. Because free school meals are means-tested, we know this support is going to the families who need it the most - and in many cases those who were impacted the most by the cruel cut to Universal Credit imposed last year.”
Schools will continue to support the distribution of the vouchers on behalf of the Council.
Meanwhile the Council is also preparing to provide financial support to parents with school uniform costs. Vouchers will be provided to parents with children eligible for free school meals who moving from reception to main school, infants to juniors or primary to secondary. Schools will also support the distribution of these vouchers on behalf of the Council.