Vulnerable families set to miss meals as school dinner voucher scheme cut by £45

Families of children were surprised to learn a £45 voucher for the whole of the seven week holiday - which starts this week - has been issued, instead of the normal £90.

Fran Healey at William Brookes School in Much Wenlock runs the second-hand uniform scheme for the pupil premium families who are in receipt of benefits at the school. She is also part of a nationwide Facebook group which compares the money families receive to provide meals in an out of school term time.

She said she had been investigating with the school and Shropshire Council as to why the funding for the scheme - which comes in the form of supermarket vouchers - had been cut.

An e-mail she received from the school said the rules for the funding allocated to Shropshire Council had changed and money had been re-allocated from that used to support families with children to support pensioners.

Fran, who has two children at the school, said: "To be fair to the school they were only notified of it last week but the first the families knew of it was when less than half the expected amount was sent out to the parents at the end of last week.

"There was no prior warning this was going to happen and many families have budgeted, and they only got £45 which is quite a drop. I run the Facebook group and it seems there is quite a lot of differences in how much the kids get for their meals in the holiday depending where you live."

Michael Turner received the email this week and said: "I do think in these times of everything going up that there would at least be enough money in the coffers to support the families in need this summer."

Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council cabinet member for children and education, said: “The Government’s Household Support Fund (HSF) which is distributed to councils in England to directly help those who need it most.

“Distributed via schools, eligible families will receive funding for three weeks of the summer holidays. The value of these vouchers will be £45 per child. We recognise that some families will be disappointed that we are not able to fund the full six weeks as we did last year.

“The HSF must support the most vulnerable households in Shropshire and as set out by Government, we will now also be making payments to eligible pensioners.

Telford and Wrekin Council are providing £60 to families in need of the vouchers - the equivalent of £10 per week for the six week holiday.