Child food poverty: Boris Johnson says councils can use money from fund which has already run out

Boris Johnson is coming under increasing fire over child hunger after claiming councils could fund meals over half-term using a fund which has already run out.

The prime minister’s own advisory commission on social mobility backed footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign and said free school meals should be extended through half-terms and holidays until the end of the coronavirus pandemic for the 1.4 million pupils in England who receive them.

And more prominent Tories added their voices to calls for a climbdown, with Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen declaring that the government was “wrong” and should reverse its decision not to fund holiday-time meals. 

Influential backbencher George Freeman said that free school meals should be extended through the October half-term and Christmas break.

Mr Johnson broke cover on the issue, after days of increasing pressure, to insist that the government would do “everything in our power” to ensure that no child went hungry over the winter holiday.

But he gave no clues on how this would be achieved – and stopped well short of offering financial backing for Mr Rashford’s campaign.

Meanwhile, a petition calling for an end to taxpayer subsidies for MPs’ meals in the Palace of Westminster approached 1 million signatures.

Throughout the day, ministers including Mr Johnson made repeated reference to a £63m fund for councils to assist vulnerable families as a possible source of money to help hard-pressed parents feed their children while schools are closed.

But official government guidance on the scheme, published 12 weeks ago on 4 August, stated that “the government anticipates that most of the funding will be spent within 12 weeks”.

And the Local Government Association said that the assistance had already been “outstripped” by demand for support from households facing difficulties because of Covid-19.

As councils around England said their allocations have already been spent, the deputy leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Richard Samuel, said that in guidance explaining the scheme to town halls there was not a single word about the free school meals issue.

Mr Rashford himself denied a claim by health secretary Matt Hancock that the PM had been in touch with the footballer about the issue.

Mr Johnson later confirmed that he had not spoken to the Manchester United and England star since a phone call in June after a humbling U-turn when the government agreed to fund food vouchers over the summer.

Speaking in Reading, during a visit to promote a report on hospital food, Mr Johnson said: “We don’t want to see children going hungry this winter, this Christmas, certainly not as a result of any inattention by this government – and you are not going to see that.”
 

The prime minister said he saluted Mr Rashford’s “terrific” work to help beat child hunger, which has seen scores of councils, restaurants and football clubs come forward with pledges to supply food to hard-pressed families during the school holidays after the Conservatives voted down a Commons motion to provide state funding.

The Independent’s Help The Hungry appeal will be aiding the provision of 25,000 free meals to children through the Felix Project, which has already served more than 13 million lockdown meals.

“We will do everything in our power to make sure that no kid, no child goes hungry this winter during the holidays,” said the prime minister. “That’s obviously something we care about very much.”

But Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “Warm words from Boris Johnson will do nothing for the over 1.4 million children at risk of going hungry this half-term that he and his MPs refused to help last week.”

And Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, said: “Boris Johnson’s claim does not ring true given his hard-hearted refusal to U-turn on free school meals. 

“The idea that other measures will make up for the lack of provision just won’t wash – people know the real struggles that families are enduring. That is why so many communities and businesses have stepped in to provide support while this callous government stands by.”

Mr Johnson also pointed to the £20-a-week uplift to universal credit and working tax credit provided by his government to help disadvantaged families weather the coronavirus storm.

But he offered no assurances over whether the welfare boost will be retained in April, or withdrawn in line with the government’s current plans.

In a move that will pile further pressure on Mr Johnson to act, a spokesperson for the Social Mobility Commission said that the body, which is sponsored by the Department for Education, “urges the government to extend free school meals during school holidays until Covid restrictions are lifted”.

The commission said: “We know that the current pandemic is having its greatest impact on the poorest regions of Britain where people are already struggling to afford food for their families.

“Our earlier research this year showed that 600,000 more children are in poverty than in 2012,” the spokesperson added. “We believe the government should do all it can to start reversing that trend.

“It should begin by ensuring that all children are fed properly. But it needs to go much further. We now need a much more ambitious programme to combat child poverty.”

And Mr Houchen, the Tory mayor of Tees Valley, announced his authority was backing the charitable arm of Middlesbrough Football Club in distributing food parcels to children in the area.

“In a time of major crisis it’s obvious that we should support our most vulnerable children and I think the government is wrong not to extend this scheme into the October half-term,” said the mayor.

And Mr Freeman, who has served as a transport minister under Mr Johnson, said: “After a long weekend reflecting on the free school meals row, it’s clear to me that whilst there is a debate about how best to target the most vulnerable, our priority must be to ensure no child is hungry this week.

“We should extend free school meals for half-term and Christmas holidays.”

Mr Freeman joins former ministers Robert Halfon, Tim Loughton, Caroline Nokes and Tobias Ellwood who have already called on Mr Johnson to give way.

But comments from other MPs indicated that Conservatives may instead favour changes to welfare payments to tackle holiday hunger.

Henry Smith, whose Crawley constituency has been hit hard by job losses at Gatwick airport during the pandemic, said that “a policy of sustainable assistance, not a one-off gesture” was needed.  

“As for vouchers, the solution lies within the benefits payment system which can flex instantly,” said Mr Smith. “If the solution is that additional payments need to be made during school holidays then that is what needs to be put before parliament for a vote and I will support it.”

Nigel Mills, MP for Amber Valley, said: “The best way to support families and children is through the welfare system, not through providing supermarket vouchers.” 

Since voting against Labour’s motion last week, Conservative MPs have been bombarded with messages from angry voters, with some suggesting the government has misjudged the public mood on the issue.