Closed petition Make free school meals vouchers available as soon as schools close in lockdowns

Closed on 21 July 2021

In any future lockdowns, a supermarket voucher system must be operational in all areas where schools are closed, as soon as schools are closed, for families with children on free school meals. Vouchers, not food parcels, should be the default. Government guidance should be updated to require this.

Schools should give parents of children receiving free school meals vouchers as the default option during lockdown, instead of food parcels from schools' catering companies. During the January lockdown there were reports that the lunches being sent in a lot of cases amount to little more than £5 of the £15 allocated for food and that taxpayers are being charged. With vouchers parents can get much more to actually feed their children properly.