Emergency scheme to feed children during half-term to be launched in Milton Keynes

The Labour-led council says thousands of families in MK have been left in a vulnerable position after the government's decision to cut free school lunches during school holidays until Easter 2021.

In Milton Keynes more than 7,000 children and their families rely on the school meal voucher programme. And without it, many could go hungry, councillors fear.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Conservative MPs, including Milton Keynes’s two Tory MP’s Iain Stewart and Ben Everitt, voted against extending the free school meal scheme over holidays.

The campaign to extend free school meal vouchers, relied upon by the most vulnerable children in communities, has been led by Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.

He was successful in his campaign to extend free school meals into the summer holidays this year, but future school holiday support has now been refused.

MK Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Cllr Zoe Nolan, said: “The government had to be forced into a U-turn on this decision initially for the Summer Holidays and it’s a disgrace that they’ve taken the decision to let children go hungry in the holidays when families are still being hit hard by the effects of Covid-19.”

She added: “The excellent work we’ve done as a council over the last 8 months means that we’re in a position to be able to investigate what emergency support we can provide on this occasion, as we have done peviously, and we’re working with partners today to ensure that children aren’t going without healthy food next week in Milton Keynes.”

Local Liberal Democrat councillors have also slammed the MP's for their vote and said it goes against everything they have been fighting for.

Last year, the Lib Dems called for the local Child Poverty Commission to be set up, as well as securing £25,000 in the 2020/21 budget that went towards young people in need receiving lunches over the summer.

Councillor Jane Carr, who chairs the Milton Keynes Council Children & Young People Scrutiny Committee, said: “In a report published just this year, the MK Community Foundation found that an estimated 10,900 (17.7%) of children are living in poverty, and some areas of Milton Keynes show child poverty rates as high as 32%. This is only going to get worse as more people lose their jobs and families struggle to get by.”

The Newport Pagnell South councillor concluded: “This is a very sad day for the country, and for Milton Keynes. Our MPs should have voted to help struggling families, not make their lives harder.”