Free school meal vouchers scheme in trouble as key supermarkets excluded, MPs warn

The free school meal vouchers scheme is in trouble even after Boris Johnson’s U-turn, MPs are warning – because key supermarkets have been excluded.

Lidl and the Co-op – very often the stores that poorer families “rely on” – cannot accept the vouchers and many independent stores have also been left out. Aldi was also excluded originally, but has now joined the programme.

Co-op has accused Gavin Williamson, the under-fire education secretary, of another blunder by failing on a promise to ensure schools are refunded if they use its alternative scheme.

“The current implementation of the Covid-19 voucher scheme for children in receipt of free school meals is not working,” Co-op’s chief executive has protested.

Now the Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee has given ministers until next Tuesday to act – accusing them of being “slow to remedy problems”.

The vouchers are available during term-time and will now be offered through the summer, after footballer Marcus Rashford forced the prime minister into his humbling U-turn.

“Questions about how the voucher scheme works need to be rapidly resolved,” said Neil Parish, the committee’s Conservative chair.

“Although initial teething problems with the scheme were understandable given the speed with which it was set up, retailers have raised very valid concerns about the shops that many families rely on being excluded from the scheme.

“It has now been months since schools first closed and many families will be relying on these vouchers to help feed their children over the summer. We hope that the government will address our concerns with the urgency required.”

The letter is a further embarrassment for Mr Williamson, who is already facing calls for his sacking over the failure to fully reopen primary schools before September, as promised.

The issue of some supermarkets being excluded from the scheme was raised with the education as far back as 29 April.

He promised schools “will be fully reimbursed and fully refunded” if they bought vouchers from other stores, telling MPs: “We need to give schools the flexibility to do that.”

But, in a letter released by the committee, Jo Whitfield, Co-op’s chief executive says this has not happened, writing: “Many schools have told us that the Co-op Group has been the only reasonable choice for their families during the pandemic.

“It is only right that those schools should be compensated in full if they purchase vouchers directly from the Co-op.”

The British Retail Consortium and Association of Convenience Stores have also raised concerns that major chains have been shut out of the voucher scheme.

Worth £15-a-week per child, it is designed to compensate for most children not being in school and therefore missing out on what, in some cases, is their only reliable meal of the day.

The families of about 1.3 million children in England are eligible, but many more in poverty will miss out and will continue to go hungry over the holidays, campaigners are warning.