Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing additional funding for a Covid Summer Food Fund which will enable children who are eligible for free school meals to receive food vouchers covering the 6-week holiday period. This is a specific measure to reflect the unique circumstances of the outbreak.<\/p>
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The government has made significant wider support available for children and families at this time. On 10 June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed an additional £63 million to be distributed to local authorities in England to help those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to COVID-19. In addition, the government has introduced an uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by around £1,000 a year for the next 12 months as part of an injection of over £6.5 billion by the government into the welfare system.<\/p>
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Additional support has been pledged by various departments across government with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announcing the provision of £16 million for food support through charities, including FareShare and WRAP. DEFRA have also issued 2 million food packages to those who are shielding.<\/p>
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The Department for Education\u2019s Holiday Activities and Food programme ensures that thousands of disadvantaged children have access to enriching activities and nutritious healthy meals over the summer, and will be backed by £9 million this year.<\/p>
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More widely, the government has supported families to cope with the impact of COVID-19 by introducing a range of support measures, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. Support has also been provided to help families pay their rent or mortgage, access sick pay, and delay tax payments.<\/p>
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In relation to free school meals, this response applies to educational settings in England only. Education is a devolved matter and it will be for each administration to determine the actions they wish to take.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4674", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Vicky Ford"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Chelmsford"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Vicky Ford"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-06-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-06-23T14:03:38.423Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-06-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Pupils: Disadvantaged"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support the families of pupils on free school meals over the school summer holidays in 2020.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4518", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tulip Siddiq"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hampstead and Kilburn"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Tulip Siddiq"} ], "uin" : "54195"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/642440", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Exiting the European Union "} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/642440/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and ensure a functioning statute book on the day we leave the EU. This \u2018Great Repeal Bill\u2019 will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK. The Bill will convert existing European Union law into domestic law, wherever practical.<\/p>
The Government will set out the content of the Bill and its implications in due course.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1502", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr David Jones"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Clwyd West"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr David Jones"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-11-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-11-30T17:27:44.607Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "203"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Exiting the European Union "} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Exiting the European Union "} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-11-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the contribution of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Environmental Audit Committee on 25 October 2016, Question 332, what proportion of existing EU legislation within the policy remit of his Department cannot immediately be brought into UK law upon the UK leaving the EU.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1579", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mary Creagh"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wakefield"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mary Creagh"} ], "uin" : "54195"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }