Yahoo News Middlesbrough mayor tells of going hungry as 'child of neglect' amid free school meal changes
The Mayor of Middlesbrough told of the worries he faced as "a child of neglect" as he welcomed a free school meals pilot scheme in his home town.
Chris Cooke said the scheme, approved by the council's Executive on Wednesday, will ensure all those entitled to free school meals receive them, bringing "humongous" benefit to children across Middlesbrough, their families and schools. At present families must apply for free school meals but it is believed one in six children across the town are missing out.
Mr Cooke spent time in the care system as a child and said he understands the problems faced by children and families in hardship. "For me on a personal level I feel so strongly about this," he told the meeting.
"As someone who was born in this area, I went from quite an okay, stable family to all of a sudden being a child of neglect - not being able to access the things that I needed to access, having to panic about where meals were coming from, not only me but my sibling as well. There was a gap in time when I wasn't getting this and actually I should have been - I was entitled to it.
"I think about all those children like me, who I watch go through care and go through neglect and this is one things that could have been taken away from their minds and they wouldn't have to worry about it that day. We need to make start to bring more of these sort of policies to make sure we make that difference."
The pilot scheme in the town, funded by the council's Public Health grant, means eligible children would be automatically enrolled in the scheme, saving eligible families an average of £400 a year. Due to start in September the council will use existing data to confirm eligibility in the scheme.
Reasons for families not claiming free school meals include the process of applying, low levels of literacy, language barriers and stigma. Auto-enrolment will be used as "a safety net" to ensure children of families who have not applied still receive the meal they are entitled to.
Following the pilot scheme, the Labour-led council may still be able to provide the service. However the cost would need to be covered by schools..
The meeting also heard the free school meal scheme unlocks extra cash for schools such as Pupil Premium Funding. This is provided by government to help disadvantaged children reach their full potential.
Cllr Philippa Storey, Deputy Mayor and Executive member for education and culture said Middlesbrough has some of the highest child poverty levels in the country and the pilot scheme will make "a huge difference" to families. She also said she hoped it would provide the local authority with more scope to ensure children are eating a healthy and balanced meal each day as it may be their only one.
Cllr Nicky Walker, Executive member for finance and governance said free school meal schemes are also a passport to support such as holiday activity funds and the household support fund. "So it can actually benefit families more widely than what we we think," she said.
A council report to Executive said, following the pilot scheme, the service could be provided by the local authority on an ongoing basis, however the full cost would be met by participating schools. "Schools have the opportunity to increase their Pupil Premium income by £1,400 per pupil (primary school age), £1,100 (secondary school age) which would otherwise be lost," said the report.
"It is therefore envisaged that schools may be prepared to pay a small percentage of the additional premium generated to contribute to meet the council's cost of providing this service."
