Yahoo News What are the free school dinner vouchers, who is eligible and how do you get them?
To make sure children who usually get free school meals are still being fed during the coronavirus outbreak, the Government has launched a national scheme to provide supermarket vouchers to families.
Starting today, the £15 weekly shopping voucher will be handed out by the school which usually provides free school meals for the child.
Schools will not have to pay for these vouchers as the costs for the scheme will be picked up by the Department for Education.
Here's everything you need to know about the new scheme.
What is the Government's new free school meals scheme?
Children eligible for free school meals who are at home can now benefit from a national voucher scheme allowing them to continue to access meals while they stay at home during the coronavirus outbreak.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "No child should go hungry as a result of the measures introduced to keep people at home, protect the NHS and save lives.
"That’s why we are launching this scheme to make sure children who usually benefit from free school meals still have access to healthy and nutritious meals while they are not attending school."
Where schools are still open for children of critical workers and vulnerable children, the school will continue to provide meals for eligible pupils.
Who is eligible?
Any child who usually benefits from free school meals during term-time will be eligible for the voucher scheme, meaning they will still have access to healthy meals while they are not at school.
Children who become newly eligible for free school meals can also access the voucher scheme and the Government has said schools and local authorities should continue to accept free school meal applications.
What is included?
Schools will provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed.
The vouchers can be spent on food at a range of shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S.
The Department for Education is working to get more shops to join the scheme as soon as possible.
The total value of vouchers available per eligible child per week is more than the the rate paid to schools for free school meals, recognising that families will not be buying food in bulk and it may cost more to pay for meals.
How can you get yours?
Parents or guardians will receive the voucher through their child’s school, which can then be redeemed online via a code, or sent to their house as a gift card and used at supermarkets across the country.
Schools will receive an email today from the Department for Education’s chosen supplier, Edenred, showing them how to access and administer the voucher scheme.
Schools will then either be able to:
Order vouchers individually online and have a code sent via email to each family. The family can then show the code on their phone at the supermarket; or
Create an eGift card for a preferred supermarket to be posted to a family if parents cannot get online.
Vouchers will be given to the adult with caring responsibility for the child.
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