This Council meeting notes:
· Within Stockport there are areas of great deprivation, with 17% of the borough being some of the most deprived areas in the country;
· Areas of Brinnington and Lancashire Hill rank within the most deprived 1% nationally; and
· This deprivation gap is translated over to educational attainment, with only 25% of children in Brinnington achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs.
This council meeting recognises that:
· The cost of living crisis impacts on our children and their families;
· The Cabinet are dedicated to ensuring that our most disadvantaged children are not left behind, in line with the levelling up agenda; and
· In order to do this, we must ensure that every child has the nutrition they need to be able to work and learn in the school day, as well as enjoy their time in the school environment.
This council meeting also notes:
· The provision of free school meals offers many benefits to children;
· A hot and nutritious school meal improves children’s concentration and behaviour during lessons and positively impacts on school attendance, children’s health and academic performance;
· Prior to the current cost of living crisis 800,000 school-age children nationally who live in poverty are unable to receive free school meals because their families income surpass the rigid income threshold for receiving free school meals;
· In this respect the Government in England is lagging far behind Scotland and Wales, who have begun to deliver universal free school meals on a class-by-class basis;
· Whilst in the Coalition Government, Liberal Democrats introduced free school meals for all children in years Reception, 1 and 2. This provided healthy, nutritious free school meals to 1.5 million children aged 4-7 across the UK.
· This policy was then scrapped by the Conservative Government in 2017.
This council meeting further notes:
· That the continuing cost of living crisis, with soaring food prices, means that more families are struggling to afford school lunches;
· Research by the national children’s health and education charity “Chefs In Schools” found that 85% of primary school teachers said there were children who are ineligible for Free School Meals who would benefit from receiving them and 81% of primary school teachers say in the last 6 months the number of children who come to school hungry had increased;
· Prices of low-cost staple groceries have become 17% more expensive in the past year, making it even harder for families to feed their children1.
· The number of children who are not eligible for free school meals is likely to be growing with the ongoing cost of living crisis;
· Current eligibility for free school meals means a household on universal credit in England must earn less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits), regardless of the number of children in the family, which means that many children from working families in poverty are not entitled to free school meals; and
· Children need healthy, nutritious meals all year round and families in poverty need certainty that this will be provided continuously, outside of term time.
This Council Meeting therefore resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, to call for:
· An alleviation of financial pressure on hard working families struggling to feed their children during the cost-of-living crisis by implementing an urgent extension of free school meals to ensure universal provision for all school age groups, for a time limited period to match the cost of living crisis; and
· A simultaneous review of the eligibility criteria and realistic threshold that would increase the number of children entitled to free school meals, with universal provision to end only once a more realistic threshold has been implemented; and
· Food provision for children on free school meals during the school holidays as standard.
Moved by: Councillor Wendy Meikle
Seconded by: Councillor Malcolm Allan
Footnote:
Minutes:
MOVED AND SECONDED - This Council meeting notes:
· Within Stockport there are areas of great deprivation, with 17% of the borough being some of the most deprived areas in the country;
· Areas of Brinnington and Lancashire Hill rank within the most deprived 1% nationally; and
· This deprivation gap is translated over to educational attainment, with only 25% of children in Brinnington achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs.
This council meeting recognises that:
· The cost of living crisis impacts on our children and their families;
· The Cabinet are dedicated to ensuring that our most disadvantaged children are not left behind, in line with the levelling up agenda; and
· In order to do this, we must ensure that every child has the nutrition they need to be able to work and learn in the school day, as well as enjoy their time in the school environment.
This council meeting also notes:
· The provision of free school meals offers many benefits to children;
· A hot and nutritious school meal improves children’s concentration and behaviour during lessons and positively impacts on school attendance, children’s health and academic performance;
· Prior to the current cost of living crisis 800,000 school-age children nationally who live in poverty are unable to receive free school meals because their families income surpass the rigid income threshold for receiving free school meals;
· In this respect the Government in England is lagging far behind Scotland and Wales, who have begun to deliver universal free school meals on a class-by-class basis;
· Whilst in the Coalition Government, Liberal Democrats introduced free school meals for all children in years Reception, 1 and 2. This provided healthy, nutritious free school meals to 1.5 million children aged 4-7 across the UK.
· This policy was then scrapped by the Conservative Government in 2017.
This council meeting further notes:
· That the continuing cost of living crisis, with soaring food prices, means that more families are struggling to afford school lunches;
· Research by the national children’s health and education charity “Chefs In Schools” found that 85% of primary school teachers said there were children who are ineligible for Free School Meals who would benefit from receiving them and 81% of primary school teachers say in the last 6 months the number of children who come to school hungry had increased;
· Prices of low-cost staple groceries have become 17% more expensive in the past year, making it even harder for families to feed their children1.
· The number of children who are not eligible for free school meals is likely to be growing with the ongoing cost of living crisis;
· Current eligibility for free school meals means a household on universal credit in England must earn less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits), regardless of the number of children in the family, which means that many children from working families in poverty are not entitled to free school meals; and
· Children need healthy, nutritious meals all year round and families in poverty need certainty that this will be provided continuously, outside of term time.
This Council Meeting therefore resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, to call for:
· An alleviation of financial pressure on hard working families struggling to feed their children during the cost-of-living crisis by implementing an urgent extension of free school meals to ensure universal provision for all school age groups, for a time limited period to match the cost of living crisis; and
· A simultaneous review of the eligibility criteria and realistic threshold that would increase the number of children entitled to free school meals, with universal provision to end only once a more realistic threshold has been implemented; and
· Food provision for children on free school meals during the school holidays as standard.