Nursery World - Mounting pressure on Government to extend free school meals for October half term

MPs will debate funding the provision of free school meals over the school holidays this afternoon (21 October), following mounting pressure from the Labour party in the run-up to October half term.

According to Labour, 900,000 children living in Tier 2 and Tier 3 in England will lose access to free school meals

Labour has put forward a motion calling for the provision of free school meals to be extended over each school holiday from October half term to Easter 2021. The opposition party has written to every backbench Conservative MP to highlight the issue and has promised to force a vote in today’s House of Commons debate.

According to new analysis by the House of Commons Library, around 900,000 children in England are living in areas subject to enhanced Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions and are set to lose access to free school meals over the holidays.

This will leave thousands of families facing a ‘double whammy’ as the October half term approaches – with incomes and jobs at risk, as well as vital support for children, Labour said.

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