The Stray Ferret has received lots of messages about free school meals after last night’s vote in the House of Commons.
A Labour motion to extend provision of £15-a-week food vouchers to 1.4m disadvantaged children in England during holidays until Easter 2021 was voted down.
Opposition motions rarely succeed — only one has done so since 1978. They are designed to raise issues governments would prefer to ignore but the high profile support of footballer Marcus Rashford and the sensitivity of the issue generated considerable interest.
Many comments to the Stray Ferret were critical of Harrogate district Conservative MPs Andrew Jones, Julian Smith, and Nigel Adams, who all voted against the motion.
The Harrogate district is below the national average for children receiving school meals, but nevertheless almost 1 in 10 children receive them.
1,932 free meals in district
A Freedom of Information request in 2019 to North Yorkshire County Council revealed that in May 2019, 1,932 children in the Harrogate district received free school meals, which represented 8.2% of all pupils.
Last year, the county average was 10.2% and the national average was 14.1%.
However, the number of children receiving free school meals in the district had risen from October 2018, when it was 7.7% of pupils.
To qualify for free school meals a parent must apply to North Yorkshire County Council with evidence that they are receiving a benefit, such as Child Tax Credit, Income Support, or Universal Credit.
Several Conservative MPs issued a joint tweet last night defending what the government is doing for low-income families.
It said:
“We’re supporting pupils in need: Free school meals for 1.4 million children from low income families, £9 billion extra put into the welfare system to help and £63m to help councils support families in need.”
A spokesperson from Harrogate District Food Bank, a charity that supports community action, told the Stray Ferret it expected to see Harrogate families using its food bank during half-term next week.
The spokesperson said:
“”From past experiences, families in Harrogate seem to scrape through the holiday and then come to the food bank the week or two after, but we shall just wait and see if that is the case.”
Read more:
Yesterday’s motion was voted down by 322 to 261, with five Conservative MPs voting against the government.
The Stray Ferret contacted Andrew Jones, Julian Smith and Nigel Adams but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
