Oldham school meals vouchers slashed – leaving families with under £7 a week

According to research by BBC News, of the 97 councils which responded out of 152 local authorities in England, 11 had scrapped the vouchers altogether,

A further 32, including Oldham, had reduced the value compared with last summer – with the remaining seven increasing the value of the vouchers.

Excluding councils that had cut the vouchers completely, Oldham Council’s vouchers showed the second biggest drop – from £90 to £40 per child.

Southampton had the biggest, dropping from £90 to £30.

This means over the six-week school holidays, families on the scheme will be given just £6.66 per week to feed their children, compared with £15 last year.

The funding comes from central Government’s Household Support Fund.

On the government’s website, it states the fund “is not intended to replicate or replace Free School Meals and Authorities should avoid duplicating provision where possible,” but that “authorities may choose to offer awards to families in receipt of Free School Meals if they consider this to be appropriate in their area”.

More than 13,000 of Oldham’s schoolchildren were on free school meals in 2021 – or nearly 30 per cent.

Nationwide, 22.5 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, making Oldham above average.

At £40 per child, this means the vouchers represent a combined value of more than £500,000.

At last year’s value of £90 per child, this would have been over £1 million.

The impact on families

David Wilkinson is the founder of NEON – a community-led charity in Oldham which provides discounted meals on Fridays and hosts food charity That Bread and Butter Thing at its community centre each Saturday.

Left to right: NEON founder David Wilkinson, Janet Thorpe, Caroline Lawson, and Keith Taylor-Bradley, all members of the NEON team, stand outside their building holding their Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

Speaking to The Oldham Times, David said: “I’ve got to be fair on this and say I can’t necessarily blame Oldham Council because I’m sure there’s politics involved in this, with cutbacks and God knows what else has gone on.

“What I would say, is it’s more likely down to the government as a whole not providing sufficient funding to address what’s obviously an important need.

“Especially in a town like Oldham where the deprivation levels are so high, what we see here is families literally struggling on a daily basis – we’re not talking weekly.

“Services that we are involved in, such as the Bread and Butter scheme are invaluable to these families – but it’s an indictment that it’s taking the voluntary sector to actually make up for what we would hope the government would do to bridge those gaps, especially with cost of living increases.

“It’s totally ridiculous that families are having to choose whether to eat or heat.

“It’s putting a real strain on these families. We’re seeing people come in with genuine panic.”

What the council says

Oldham Council has provided an updated statement (Thursday, August 11). The original statement is available at the end of this article.

Cllr Abdul Jabbar MBE, Cabinet Member for Finance said: “We know how crucial it is to support families through the summer holidays, especially those on low incomes.

“With increased childcare and food costs to contend with, the holiday period can be a very challenging time for many households, particularly during a Cost of Living crisis. That’s why we’re running summer Holiday Activities and Food sessions across the borough, where children can enjoy a range of activities and also receive a healthy hot meal.

“It’s frustrating and disappointing that, due to Government changes to the Household Support Fund, we have had to reduce the value of the vouchers available to eligible families for food over the summer holidays.

“We are not alone in having to do this, and other Councils have even had to stop their vouchers altogether. We wouldn’t be in this position if Government was more willing to help those vulnerable families who desperately need support.

“Once again we are being forced to do more with less when our communities are already living with the impact of austerity, the legacy of the pandemic, and now the Cost of Living crisis.

“So, I urge anyone who is in desperate need of support, to contact our Oldham Helpline today on 0161 770 7007 or visit our website. A huge range of help and support is available – so please don’t suffer in silence.”

What Government says

A Government spokesperson said: “The Household Support Fund supports the most vulnerable in England.

“For the current period, up to two-thirds of allocated £421 million funding can be spent on families with children, and councils – which know their areas best – can direct the funds to the most vulnerable as they see fit.

“The final third of funding is reserved for pensioners, who are usually unable to increase their income through work.

“More widely, we are protecting eight million low-income families with at least £1,200 of direct payments, while additional support for disabled people and pensioners is also on the way.

“And the Holiday Activities and Food programme, funded by £200 million a year, provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families during the holiday period.”

Original council statement

This is the council statement originally provided to The Oldham Times.

An Oldham Council spokesperson said: “We are really keen to support families during the summer holidays, especially those on low incomes.

“With increased childcare and food costs to contend with, the off-school period can be a very challenging time for many households, but we are here to help.

“That is why, through our summer Holiday Activities and Food programme, children aged five to 16 on free school meals, can enjoy a variety of fun activities and a healthy hot meal for free at every session they attend.

“There’s also plenty of support available to parents through our We Can Help campaign, including advice on welfare and other financial support.

“While the value of our Free School Meal Vouchers this summer has changed, this is because the national guidance on the Household Support Fund grant has changed whereby there is a greater emphasis on the grant being used to support pensioners and to help support the rise of energy costs.

“If you are struggling, please contact our Oldham Helpline on 0161 770 7007 or visit our website for more information on how we can help.”