Agenda item

Report of the Chief Officer for Children’s Services (CS/20/16), attached.

The Committee considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Children’s Services (CS/20/16) around the Council’s response to vulnerable children in different phases of the Coronavirus pandemic, including the response now and data on Free School Meals (FSM) which showed a very significant rise in demand.  Recent national debates about FSM had prompted Members to seek clarification about the Council’s response.

During the first lockdown, the role of schools changed to supporting vulnerable children and the children of key workers, with the vast majority of children receiving their education at home.  For the May half term and the summer holidays the DfE agreed that schools could continue to provide meals for entitled children.  They met this requirement through a variety of routes, including the national voucher system, food parcels that families could collect or purchased gift vouchers for local stores.

As a Devon large rural county, the Council believed that local solutions were needed to ensure that during lockdown the most vulnerable people in Devon, including children and families, did not go hungry.  To ensure support was available the Council allocated £1 million to a shared hardship fund, which was shared between districts along with a further £700,000 received from the government.  The County Council was holding a further £100,000 in reserve for additional hardship funding over the winter.

The Report advised that before the pandemic the percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming FSM was rising in Devon and nationally; however, it was still   significantly below that seen nationally.

COVID-19 had resulted in a significant impact of the number of families that had registered free school meals. The table below showed the increase in claims since March.

Members were informed that based on the October 2020 school census there were now 13,830 pupils claiming FSM in Devon.  This figure could still rise as the census was not yet closed. At £3 per meal, it would cost about £41,940 per day to provide a meal to these children.

Families entitled to FSM, whose children would otherwise go hungry, have been encouraged to contact their District Council in order to access hardship assistance during the school holidays.   The Council would write to the Government to clarify that, due to the financial position, the Council were limited in our ability to provide financial support for families beyond the Spring and to request that they properly fund support for all vulnerable people in Devon affected by the financial impacts of the pandemic.

Since this Report was written, the Head of Education and Learning updated Members that Government had announced additional funding and support for families which included:

·       £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to support children and families over winter;

·       holiday activities and food programme to be expanded covering Winter 2021;

·       Councils would distribute the funds rather than schools as they were best placed to directly help the hardest hit families and individuals as well as provide food for children who required it over the Christmas holidays;

·       Local Authorities would receive ring-fenced funding at the beginning of December;

·       The Healthy Start scheme payments were set to increase, which would support pregnant women or those with children under the age of four who were on a low income and in receipt of benefits, to buy fresh fruit and vegetables;

·       Additional funding for food distribution organisations; and,

·       The full school census data set showed 14,774 children had now registered for Free School Meals in state funded schools

Members discussion points with Officers included:

·       whether the new package of funding and support would meet the needs of those hardest hit families in Devon – Members were advised that the Government announcements were made on 8 November and Officers were still awaiting further details;

·       the Hardship Funding had been allocated to District councils and local suppliers to deliver the support at home which was deemed the best course of action as the demand currently placed on schools would be too much and staff were not in place over the holidays;

·       the numbers of coronavirus cases in schools had significantly reduced in terms of number of cases and those pupils self-isolating in Devon. Evidence suggested there was no increased risk to children attending school and it remained a priority to keep schools open;

·       the need to focus on young people’s mental wellbeing where children were spending significant time at school but were unable to meet friends outside of school due to the national lockdown; and

·       that there had been no move on schools being able to claim costs around COVID for the autumn term.