division_name: Free School Meals
motion: <p class="indent" pid="e1130.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House calls on the Government to continue directly funding provision of free school meals over the school holidays until Easter 2021 to prevent over a million children going hungry during this crisis.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1131.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It&#8217;s not for schools to provide food to pupils during the school holidays.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1133.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;notes that schools are now fully operational following the covid-19 outbreak, and will continue to offer free school meals in term time; welcomes the substantial support provided by the Government to children worth &#163;550 million annually; further welcomes that this support has been bolstered by almost &#163;53 billion worth of income protection schemes, and &#163;9.3 billion of additional welfare payments; notes that eligible families have also been supported throughout lockdown through the receipt of meal vouchers worth &#163;380 million while schools were partially closed, alongside the Holiday Activities and Food Fund; and further supports the Government in its ongoing activities to help the most vulnerable children in society.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1140.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We are doing all we can to ensure the right support gets to the right people at the right time in the right way&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1140.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It&#8217;s not for schools to regularly provide food to pupils during the school holidays. We believe the best way to support families outside of term time is through Universal Credit rather than government subsidising meals.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1140.1/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;This is a specific measure to reflect the unique circumstances of the pandemic&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1142.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;newly devolved powers to establish a promising social security system guided by the principles of dignity&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1142.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I have seen myself the difference that providing free meals can make. I just want to make sure no-one falls through the cracks and by giving this to all primary school pupils we can make sure the offer is there for everyone.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1147.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;In the little world in which children have their existence, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;In Lockdown we had children calling the school explaining they were hungry and asking what we could do&#8212;as soon as we were able to issue the FSM vouchers we were flooded with thanks from our children and their parents. The situation with unemployment in Brent is clearly so much worse now so we are really concerned about how we can support our pupils through the half term and the Christmas holidays&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Families with multiple children were able to purchase food in bigger quantities to take advantage of offers. With stress for families trying to feed children greatly reduced, they described the access to FSM as a lifeline.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;strongly believes that FSM should be provided,&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The government needs to implement a scheme that is easily manageable by schools&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Many families have had their income cut by two thirds or more and many children are going hungry. Schools need Free School Meals to be directly funded and the criteria for eligibility should be less stringent.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There is very limited provision for pupils with disabilities over the holidays and we fear many won&#8217;t receive adequate food and support. We are also aware that parents, carers and families are putting themselves in more debt and that providing for their children has had a large impact on the mental health of our families.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/16" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;government paying for FSM during holidays should be an absolute minimum. What is really needed is to widen the eligibility for children whose families are in receipt of Universal Credit as Marcus Rashford is campaigning for. At Elsley we had to set up a food bank to support some of our families. I cannot believe that as a Head teacher in London in 2020 I am overseeing a food bank to ensure that our children don&#8217;t go hungry. It is truly unbelievable.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1148.2/19" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Those in the most deprived communities have suffered the greatest reductions in spending power. Funding for services for the 20% most deprived Local Authorities has fallen more than twice as fast as for the least&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1158.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The degree of one&#8217;s emotions varies inversely with one&#8217;s knowledge of the facts.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1158.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1160.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Where they can, it&#8217;s a parent&#8217;s job to feed their children&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1168.1/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="e1169.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2020-06-03">3 June</phrase> 2015; Vol. 596, c. 675.]</p>