Food vouchers could continue in Cambridgeshire
It will help vulnerable families over the school holidays
Last updated 18th Jun 2021
A scheme to provide food vouchers to families struggling in the pandemic looks set to be continued over the school summer holidays through funding from Cambridgeshire County Council.
This follows the successful Winter Support Grant which provided support to vulnerable families during the Christmas break and the COVID Support Grant during the February half term holiday.
Cambridgeshire County Council's Children and Young People's Committee will be asked at its meeting on 29 June to allocate approximately £1.6m for the COVID Support Grant scheme, which will be in the form of supermarket vouchers.
That decision will then have to be ratified by the Council's Strategy and Resources Committee, which meets on 6 July.
If agreed, a supermarket voucher will automatically be allocated to parents or carers whose child meets the following criteria:
In receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium
Children that access funded two-year-old education
Children eligible for Free School Meals
Students eligible for 16+ bursary
Each eligible child or young person will be issued with vouchers to cover weekday lunch costs during the school summer holiday. Vouchers will be sent by email and text and will equate to £3 for each weekday of the holidays. Further information will be sent to parents on the operation of the scheme in the coming weeks.
Running alongside this, the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme will provide some support over the school summer holidays.
The HAF scheme enables local authorities to coordinate free holiday childcare, which includes healthy food and enriching activities for children who receive benefits-related free school meals.
The programme will be delivered by approved holiday scheme providers and childminders, co-ordinated by Cambridgeshire County Council. Details on the HAF scheme can be found here.
The new Joint Administration at Cambridgeshire County Council agreed to maintain free school meals for eligible children during school holidays. This is in recognition of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable families and a growing number of families who are newly eligible for accessing support.
Cllr Bryony Goodliffe, Chair of the Children and Young People's Committee said:
"I am delighted that the Joint Administration at Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to fund this excellent and much-needed scheme. Many families will continue to struggle financially as a result of the pandemic and it is absolutely right that we prioritise the most vulnerable in society and help them as much as we can."
Cllr Maria King, Vice-Chair of the Committee added:
"This commendable scheme is one of the many examples of successful cross-party working to which the Joint Administration at the County Council has committed itself. This committee's focus will always be the children and young people of Cambridgeshire and the continuation of the food voucher scheme reaffirms our determination to do the best we can for those who may be finding life difficult at the moment."