Claims over 11,000 children in Cornwall will go hungry without free school meals extension
Labour wants the scheme to be delivered during the Christmas break
There is a warning that 11, 320 children in Cornwall could be left hungry over the school holidays, without an extension of the free school meal scheme.
Labour says it will force a parliamentary vote on the extension of the programme.
The party is supporting a campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford, urging ministers to continue the initiative during the Christmas break.
More than 400 people in Cornwall sign Marcus Rashford's petition on child food poverty
Nearly 300,000 people have signed the footballer's petition calling for pupils in England to be given meals during holidays.
But Number 10 has previously said it is not for schools to provide food throughout the holidays.
Warning that Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s ‘sink-or-swim’ plans for support for families risks leaving more than 11,320 children hungry in Cornwall over school holidays, Cornwall councillors Jayne Kirkham and Cornelius Olivier says that “now is the time to act.”
They say the October half term comes as millions of families face a furlough 'cliff-edge' that could see jobs across the country at risk, at the same time as millions of families face tighter restrictions.
Labour says that across the South West there are 111,036 children who receive free school meals, who will lose out on this support over the holidays if the government do not urgently extend it.
The coronavirus pandemic has been particularly challenging for parents, who the party says were almost twice as likely to be furloughed as workers without children. Labour claims the government’s new Job Support Scheme has 'substantial holes in it', which, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), means 1.8 million jobs remain at risk.
Labour’s call follows mounting pressure on the government from Marcus Rashford’s campaign, and the announcement that the Welsh Government will extend free school meals over the holidays for children in Wales. A petition including a call to expand access to free school meals over the holiday attracted more than 100,000 signatures in less than a day.
There are more than 1.44 million children across the country who are eligible for free school meals, growing up in families in receipt of certain legacy benefits, or Universal Credit below a set income threshold.
Extending free school meals to school holidays until Spring would see the equivalent of £15 in additional support to the families of over 1.4 million children in every week of the school holidays, including October half term and Christmas.
"In Cornwall, demands on local food poverty charities have exploded. Between March and July this year the number of people claiming Universal Credit in Cornwall rose 96%. Normally in Cornwall, the number of those claiming falls considerably between March and August, this year it have doubled to almost 50,000.
“Millions of families face the prospect of losing their livelihoods because the government has lost control of the virus.
“Its sink-or-swim plans for support could leave more than one million children at risk of going hungry over the school holidays.
“Now is the time to act. Labour will not stand by and let families be the victims of the government’s incompetence. If Boris Johnson doesn’t change course, we will force a vote this week and give his backbenchers the chance to do the right thing.”
Cllr Jayne Kirkham, Deputy Labour group leader on Cornwall Council