No more free school meal vouchers?

[dottydotterson]

What do you think of the governments decision to end the free school meal vouchers for the summer? Do you agree or not?

@TorysSuckRevokeArticle50

I'm not sure how it would be done but I think it should be possible to opt out of R-yr2 free school meals in a way that guarantees that funding goes back into providing free school meals for those who need them.

We don't need the free school meals, and don't often use them as DD prefers a packed lunch but I don't know what happens to the funding for that meal or if the food is just wasted as in our school they choose day to day whether they want hot food or a packed lunch from home they don't ask for the decision in advance.

Basically the school gets allocated an amount of money to cover the meals taken based on “census day”. The number of KS1 children who take a school lunch on that day decides our meals funding for the rest of that year. So, if on census day we happen to have a bug going round meaning 10 KS1 children who would normally have a school meal are absent then our funding is short by 10 meals every day for the rest of the year. If our reception class is not fully subscribed on census day but we get 10 new children over the following few weeks.... we have NO funding for this new children.

In our school we give the cook the numbers by 9.30 each morning and she cooks a little over that number to allow for late arrivals.

The portions are, in my opinion, pretty large. I often have a school meal but ask cook to give me a child portion because that is plenty of food for me... especially with dessert as well which I sometimes can’t have due to the guidelines not allowing much sugar so they have artificial sweeteners in some things like the yoghurt.

If you want to increase the funding for school - order a school meal for your KS1 child on census day! Schools often have a “special menu” on those days to increase take up.

Caveat.... I am based in a school in England....

In Scotland, where I live, all pupils in p1-p3 get fsm irrespective of family’s financial circumstances. This is NOT means tested! The money that could be saved, by not giving fsm to those who can easily afford it, would go a long way towards feeding those who DO actually need help!

@tootsie321 You might have got less sharp replies if you'd pointed out you live in Scotland (the thread was about England planning to not provide lunches) and that you were talking about universal free lunches as opposed to sounding like you were pontificating offensively about FSM in general

@hoodathunkit

I sometimes went hungry as a child.

I stole food from the canteen at school. Helping myself to food from home was considered stealing by my parents and I was punished violently for it.

My parents always had money for foreign holidays (taken without their children), booze and my mum's cigarettes but they did not prioritise quality food for their children.

I was reading comments in the Mail re this issue. Lots of posts saying stuff like "if you can't afford to have children don't have children". This is probably good advice, however lots of people have kids they cannot afford to feed, or, like my parents, do not prioritise food for their kids, surely it is unfair to let children go hungry because of their parents' bad choices?

Personally I believe that no child should go hungry. No child should resort to stealing food in order to live.

A lot of irresponsible parents out there. There are circumstances where there's just no money and it's a struggle for parents but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones/booze/fags/foreign holidays/Sky/a good size house/a nice car/other leisure activities/nights out but you can't afford to feed your own children then that's not the governments fault.

A lot of irresponsible parents out there. There are circumstances where there's just no money and it's a struggle for parents but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones/booze/fags/foreign holidays/Sky/a good size house/a nice car/other leisure activities/nights out but you can't afford to feed your own children then that's not the governments fault.

You missed big TV off your list of generalised insults...

A lot of irresponsible parents out there. There are circumstances where there's just no money and it's a struggle for parents but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones/booze/fags/foreign holidays/Sky/a good size house/a nice car/other leisure activities/nights out but you can't afford to feed your own children then that's not the governments fault. Not the kid's fault either!

but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones/booze/fags/foreign holidays/Sky/a good size house/a nice car/other leisure activities/nights out but you can't afford to feed your own children then that's not the governments fault said the daily mail!

Oh well guess this is the country we live in where children go hungry and we are up in arms when they dare say you pay for your own care once elderly or you need to pay more NI as a self employed individual.

Pretty certain you are the idiot who thinks that all school pupils (and younger children at home), irrespective of age should be getting free meals all year round and to hell with the cost of such an initiative!

Yep I'm an idiot that likes the idea of fed children, no matter the family income some children wont get fed

Tootsie are you saying children shouldnt be fed, in the 5th richest economy your happy to have children go hungry? Bless your hell bound ass if you believe in such a thing, luckily I dont but I do hope some of the misfortune you wish on others is returned to you in copious amounts

@GazeboParty

A lot of irresponsible parents out there. There are circumstances where there's just no money and it's a struggle for parents but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones/booze/fags/foreign holidays/Sky/a good size house/a nice car/other leisure activities/nights out but you can't afford to feed your own children then that's not the governments fault. Not the kid's fault either!

Which is why the free meals are needed but it's subsidising poor parenting in a lot of cases.

but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones

You cannot claim benefits without at least 1 of the things above

My children are in receipt of FSM and this is a huge weight off my mind. Our food costs have increased and the vouchers make the difference between whether I can eat or not.

For what it’s worth I always worked full time but had to stop working due to health reasons. I already feel like shit that my children are being raised in an officially poor household and some of the posts on this thread have made me feel even worse.

I also don't see why UC payments were increased during the pandemic as unemployed people living on benefits weren't affected by drop in incomes?

Because the cost of food has risen a lot since the pandemic started? No more buy one get one free offers and so on.

Which is why the free meals are needed but it's subsidising poor parenting in a lot of cases. - how many cases and what do you think we should do - let the kids starve? That would teach the parent a lesson wouldn't it!

@JustAnotherPoster00

but if you have money for stuff like broadband/smart phones

You cannot claim benefits without at least 1 of the things above

Or access remote learning for your children

Which is why the free meals are needed but it's subsidising poor parenting in a lot of cases.

What would you suggest as an alternative?

@lyralalala

Which is why the free meals are needed but it's subsidising poor parenting in a lot of cases.

What would you suggest as an alternative?

On a separate note there should be an initiative around budgeting and don't buy what you can't afford.

The problem is, it's a consumerist society built on cheap credit and everyone wants to consume all these things. But when parents are consuming at the expense of their child going hungry then it's a big problem.

I had parents who spent all their money on booze and fags - but they liked food too - so we never went hungry - we didn't get much else though. It is really bad enough having crappy selfish parents without the Government turning its back on you too.

On a separate note there should be an initiative around budgeting and don't buy what you can't afford. Didn't Martin Lewis bust his butt trying to get this into the curriculum - even bought books for all the schools.

On a separate note there should be an initiative around budgeting and don't buy what you can't afford

You can know how to budget all you want, but if the money isn’t there, it isn’t there.

It’s such a reductive thought that to punish reckless parents society should target the children.

Our school provides 87 FSM vouchers every week in a school of less than 300. In addition we have been providing ‘off the cuff’ meal boxes for 10-15 families every week (families who don’t qualify for the vouchers but we know are struggling). We’d been really worried about at least 50 of those families, and know how much they need the vouchers. Our Head was seriously considering if the school could afford to continue to purchase without Govt backing - but at around £8K it was pretty much impossible.

Thank God for Rashford. That £15 a week is going to make a big difference to these families and tbh I’m quite embarrassed at how easily I’d ‘waste’ £15 knowing how much it means to them.

On a separate note there should be an initiative around budgeting and don't buy what you can't afford.

The problem is, it's a consumerist society built on cheap credit and everyone wants to consume all these things. But when parents are consuming at the expense of their child going hungry then it's a big problem.

And until then we just let kids go hungry? How is that a remotely acceptable solution?

I was abused and neglected as a child. School dinners were the main source of food. It takes a long time for an abused child to be removed from their parents. I was lucky, at 7 my grandparents decided enough was enough and took us and basically dared my parents to go to court. Some children have that the whole way through.

Some kids have chaotic homes where there is food, but not enough, or not nutricious.

Some have families where there's just not enough food.

The solution to all of those things should never, in a civilised society, be to shrug our shoulders and say "parents problem, nothing to do with us".

My children are pupil premium children. I can't work because my oldest has complex SEN and is in receipt of DLA. As a single parent it was too much to juggle.

The vouchers are a massive help. Having my 3 year old home everyday has doubled my food bill. My 5 year old doesn't eat well, means I can make sure I have plenty of her safe food in.

I don't drink. I don't smoke. I do have broadband. I do have a smartphone and nice car, child matinence pays for both and especially having s car is an absolute life line for us. I haven't been out socially since December 2015. I've just brought myself a shed load of new clothes using birthday money I was gifted. I was still wearing clothes from 10 years ago up until now.

We could manage without the summer offer but it will make life a lot easier and I'm eternally grateful for it

Also you can't use the vouchers online except for Asda which was problematic so I have been sending my mum the vouchers for her to use and she was giving me the cash so I could continue my online food shops.

Btw just to point out BROADBAND IS NOT A LUXURY.....most kids have home work set on the internet (even before lockdown), even application forms for benefits are done on line. Broadband is just another utility!

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Btw just to point out BROADBAND IS NOT A LUXURY.....most kids have home work set on the internet (even before lockdown), even application forms for benefits are done on line. Broadband is just another utility!

Absolutely agree! So many people have issues with those on benefit having 'luxuries', however, having broadband and a device to connect with is a necessity in this day and age. Similarly, a good, reliable car can be essential to many families, especially those in 'food deserts' that need to travel to get to cheaper supermarkets etc. Public transport costs can be massively higher than running an efficient car. Those on benefits are also more likely to need to have meters for gas/electric which are notoriously more expensive. In general, it realistically costs more to be poor, due to not having options or spending power to take advantage of multi-buys etc, once you are in poverty it is near impossible to get out of it without serious support.

But when parents are consuming at the expense of their child going hungry then it's a big problem.

This is only true if you believe what you see on channel 5 or read in the papers, that everyone is buying fags and booze, which isn't the case at all, that's a tiny tiny minority. There are plenty of reasons why people don't work, and as has been said not having broadband would be giving not only the children in the household, but the adults too a distinct disadvantage as so much of what we do is online now. Plus I cannot say I begrudge someone who has likely been dealt circumstances out of their control from gasp having some pleasure in life. The same for having a TV, going on holiday- bloody hell. There are a lot of narrow minded views on here and judgements, personally I pay my tax, support food banks or charities where I can because I'm fortunate enough to be able to work in a decent job, I honestly cannot find it in myself to feel angry that children will be fed over the summer. I feel angrier that adults don't get the right support. I grew up without any luxuries, meals were often half as much as a growing child needed, initiatives like this would have been life changing.