"Extending free school meals isn't going to end child food poverty"
That's according to a food bank in Bradford
Today (24th May) parliament will debate the 'no child should be going hungry' petition.
It reads: "Government should support vulnerable children & #endchildfoodpoverty by implementing 3 recommendations from the National Food Strategy to expand access to Free School Meals, provide meals & activities during holidays to stop holiday hunger & increase the value of and expand the Healthy Start scheme."
" That is simply a band aid, it's not a cure."
However, Graham Walker, the chair of Bradford's metropolitan food bank said:
"In the short term children with more resources, will benefit, obviously. In the long term that is simply a band aid, it's not a cure, it's not a solution, it keeps people going for a while.
"All of the governments policies in terms of poverty, penalise the poor. Unless there's a see change, long term I can not see it making much of a difference, in the short term, we may get through the summer."
Last week we reported that shocking new figures showed Leeds and Bradford has seen one of the biggest increases in child poverty, compared with the rest of Yorkshire.
In Leeds 23% percent of children were living in poverty before the pandemic, that's risen to more than 40%.
The Yorkshire constituencies with the most children living in poverty include: Bradford West (47%) and Bradford East (47%), closely followed by Leeds East (44%), Leeds Central (43%).
Fiona Vennell from Leeds City Council said:
"One of the things of really grave concern is that the additional £20 on universal credit is going to come to an end in the Autumn, and that's going to come to an end at the same time furlough does, and we've got 50,000 people in Leeds on furlough.
A Government spokesperson said:
“Latest figures show that the number of children in absolute poverty has fallen by 300,000 since 2010.
“We are committed to supporting families most in need, spending billions more on welfare and planning a long-term route out of poverty by protecting jobs through furlough and helping people find new work through our Plan for Jobs. We also introduced our £269 million Covid Local Support Grant to help children and families stay warm and well-fed throughout the pandemic.”