No free school meals during Feb half term

[noblegiraffe]

The new guidance on free school meals says that schools should not provide food or vouchers during Feb half term.

This won’t be needed as some general funding is going to LAs and they will be expected to provide food/support for the week schools are off.

This is bonkers, right? They’ve only just sorted it so that kids get more than a manky banana, cheese and dry bread for lunch and they’re going to switch to a different system for a week?

Does this government just really hate feeding hungry kids?

YANBU: sticking with one system for feeding disadvantaged kids would be best

YABU: it’ll be fine, no one will fall through the cracks and the transition will be seamless.

I do wonder if some of the issues are down to what we see. What I mean is in my village you see the unemployed people with kids claiming all the free food they can get including food bank while also smoking, drinking, before covid going out and even holidays with the girls. They are the ones almost showing off. It's the quiet ones the ones who really really need the help that we dont see. So therefore everyone sees the 1st example and believes they are all like it.
We have had years where we struggled and I could never wish that on anyone. I also wonder if there are the almost forgotten families the ones where they are still working but not entitled to free school meals their costs have gone up as well, electricity alone is going to be so high for everyone but these families as they have the option will end up in terrible debt with no government help.

@noblegiraffe

I don't think anyone thinks children should go hungry, of course not

You really should have stopped your post there.

you posted a question on AIBU - but you're going to criticise anybody that disagrees with you?

Not exactly a unanimous vote, despite your attempts to frame it in such a goady way.

Haven’t read the full thread, but I didn’t think kinds got free school meals during holidays, it was the parents responsibility to feed them during this period?

If this is the case, I can see why they are not providing them now, if not I can’t understand the decision to change it.

I do understand if peoooe are in poverty and need thr food, but I’m not sure the answer is to start feeding children in the holidays too, but can see the rationale for it.

@HOS8595 feeding your kids doesn't mean you're not a shit person or a shit parent!

Not being able to feed your kids doesn't mean your a shit person or a shit parent.

@Bluntness100 the government did not provide school meal vouchers in the holidays before the pandemic. The trouble is you have got families that currently we’re struggling and like a poster said it may stem back from the previous generation. On top of this you have the low earners who just make it work and they also have lost jobs and may have had to go on benefits... it means a hell of a lot of vouchers that would be given away.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe some of these responses! Does it matter whose fault it is that they're hungry? They're hungry! They're children!

The problem with vouchers is the kids who MOST need the help isnt the ones with poor but hard working parents. Those parents tend to run a thrifty budget and manage to feed their kids well.

It's the kids in chaotic homes, where (eg) maybe dad has mental health issues or drinks or theres domestic violence, single parent households where a parent might be juggling 3 kids and two insecure poorly paid jobs alongside having had a challenging upbringing with no education on how to manage money, families where mums maybe severely depressed or has struggled with learning difficulties her whole life and can't read well so tends to struggle paying bills, understanding recipes etc, living in communities frought with issues etc.

Its the minority but its the most vulnerable kids and unfortunately cash given tends not to reach them because actually money isnt the biggest issue. A low resale value cheese sandwich provided ready to eat however might actually get given to the child to eat.

It's a bit like the constant dispute of how to help the poorest in the developing world. Cash grants get embezzled by despots, but providing constant food supplies directly etc doesn't fix the systemic problems.

*Why should children be getting free meals in half term? They don’t when the schools are open do they?
*

This

Why shouldn’t children be getting free school meals during the holidays?

If you are ok with any children to be hungry in one of the world’s richest countries, you need to take a good look at yourself and be ashamed.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland no the problem is the MONEY!

I’m sick of hearing people say if your happy will a hungry child there’s a deeper issue here and it needs to be sorted if you have complex family issues or you can’t make a simple meal like some make out on here then it’s very very worrying indeed. Also if you have poor money management there is always going to be issues weather you have more money given to you the issue will remain the same probably worse.

Someone even claimed they use £50 a week in electric alone a week unless this combines there heating as well I don’t believe they are spending that amount in electric.

Some comments on here are unrealistic. As though there’s a magic money tree!

[quote Chel098]@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland no the problem is the MONEY!

I’m sick of hearing people say if your happy will a hungry child there’s a deeper issue here and it needs to be sorted if you have complex family issues or you can’t make a simple meal like some make out on here then it’s very very worrying indeed. Also if you have poor money management there is always going to be issues weather you have more money given to you the issue will remain the same probably worse.

Someone even claimed they use £50 a week in electric alone a week unless this combines there heating as well I don’t believe they are spending that amount in electric.

Some comments on here are unrealistic. As though there’s a magic money tree![/quote]
There is when it comes to things the government wants to spend on MPs pay rises , funding the DUP, supporting their cronies....

@CakeRequired

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect parents to provide lunch for their children for 5 says, no.

It's not unreasonable, but unfortunately not all parents are good ones. Some abuse their kids, spend the money they get on benefits on other stuff. There was a discussion I saw yesterday, dunno when it happened though, but a woman said she worked in a supermarket and all of the staff had people coming in with food vouchers trying to buy alcohol and even plants with them. That's just beyond stupid, and I highly doubt she was lying to be honest based on how I've seen people behave.

There isn't an alternative except to take the children off the ones who really aren't even trying. But the system there sucks too. The whole system needs an overhaul really, schools are not childcare and we shouldn't be going 'it's your job to protect these children'. They are at school for 8 hours a day, the other 16 they are at the mercy of their parents. Doesn't take a genius to figure out which side you should actually be fixing, but clearly it does with our government.

All of the staff? Every one? How many staff in a shop is that ?

Your second point makes zero sense. We are trying to feed them while they're not in school.

With what the government spend on subsidising the MP’s restaurant at the House of Commons, good quality food could be provided to school children. There appears to be no shortage of money but how the government decide to spend it.

It doesn't help when the media interviews a very obese mum complaining about the lack of food given for her child......

@londongirl12

It doesn't help when the media interviews a very obese mum complaining about the lack of food given for her child......

But people in this day and age should be able to learn that the media spins what it likes to justify the government's cronyism.

Providing parents with more money to feed their kids could also be done simply by increasing child related benefits

It could, yes, but as with vouchers I'm not sure how that would help the minority of children who live in chaotic homes and would possibly see none of the benefit?

Nobody's suggesting for an instant that all benefit claiming families are like this, but it still leaves the question of what to do about those who are

Chel098

“Someone even claimed they use £50 a week in electric alone a week unless this combines there heating as well I don’t believe they are spending that amount in electric”

Much poor quality, rented accommodation has no central heating and relies upon plug in electric heaters, which are incredibly expensive to run. It is also considerably more expensive if you are forced to use a meter with top up cards, rather than direct, uninterrupted supply which many wealthier families pay for on DD at much lower rates.
During a cold winter, with a family and no gas supply, it’s perfectly possible to run through £50 in a week.

londongirl12
It doesn't help when the media interviews a very obese mum complaining about the lack of food given for her child......

Cheap, filling food is generally high fat, high sugar, poor nutritional value.

@Chel098

That’s incorrect. There’s a range of things of things that the benefit cap effects not just rent costs.

Where did I say rent was the only thing that was affected by the benefit cap? Try reading my post again. That's not what I said. I said that because of the benefit cap, if my LL raises my rent (which is currently about £150 cheaper than other houses of this size) I will be fucked. Because I already have less money than the government actually say I need to live on.

It’s just cowardice really. They saw how lockdown FSM debacle blew up on national government and they’re scared of a repeat during holidays, so they’d rather shift responsibility onto councils.

*Why should children be getting free meals in half term? They don’t when the schools are open do they?

It's really quite simple, because they're going hungry.

@WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo The benefit cap has fuck all to do with family size.

[quote Chel098]@WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo The benefit cap has fuck all to do with family size. [/quote]
Okay? And where in the link you posted to prove me wrong did it mention family size?

The 2 child limit is affected by family size, as in you can only claim for 2 children
The benefit cap is something else.

I haven't mentioned the 2 child limit, I actually think it's not necessarily a bad thing.
I don't agree with the benefit cap.

Yes it does include the amount of children and other things. Why have you responded but yet continued to reply to something your not sure on.

Nope. Not seeing:"number of children" on that list.