More than 8,000 pupils in Milton Keynes are eligible for free school meals

According to figures released today by Milton Keynes Liberal Democrats, 8,359 pupils met the threshold for free school lunches this Autumn.

This was an increase of more than 1000 from the Spring term.

The local Lib Dem councillors say the city's MPs and the government need to act now to prevent child hunger from getting worse.

Councillor Jane Carr said: "“We know that last month the government U-turned on their decision not to extend free school meals, which is a welcome move, but we need more permanent measures to tackle child hunger, which I fear is only going to get worse during the pandemic.”

She added: “We Liberal Democrats are committed to fighting against child hunger and poverty, which is why we’ve not only written an open letter to our MPs Ben Everitt and Iain Stewart regarding this, but also brought a successful motion to Council which gained cross party support.”

The open letter and motion call for Milton Keynes MPs and the council’s Cabinet to lobby for permanent change, including:

* Free school meals to every pupil whose parents or guardians are in receipt of Universal Credit

* Food vouchers for every one of those pupils in every school holiday and during any period of lockdown

* Free school meals to pupils from low-income families whose parents or guardians have no recourse to public funds and destitute asylum seekers under s4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Councillor Carr said: “If these figures show us anything, it is that the time to act is now, and I sincerely hope our government will, as our children deserve better.”