Senior councillors in Hull are to be asked to consider a recommendation that would continue the provision of free school meals during holiday periods for eligible children.
Around 14,000 free school meal recipients in the city are currently supplied with food vouchers to cover the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks, along with half-terms.
Funding for this comes from the Household Support Fund (HSF), a Government scheme which will finish at the end of this month.
It is being replaced from April by the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), which will support low-income households who may be experiencing severe difficulties, with an aim to build long-term financial resilience across the city.
Following initial concerns that the CRF wouldn’t permit food vouchers to be distributed on a routine basis, the Leader of Hull City Council, Councillor Mike Ross, wrote to the Government in December seeking clarification.
Subsequently, the Department for Work and Pensions provided further guidance to local authorities last month which confirmed that the councils could, should they wish to do so, continue to offer food vouchers during holiday periods.
Councillor Ross said: “The recommendations set out in this report, if accepted by Cabinet, would ensure that eligible families receive food vouchers across the whole of the upcoming Easter break, as well as during future holiday periods.”
The report to Cabinet recommends spending £2.9million in 2026-27 to provide free school meal vouchers during holiday periods to eligible families, who would receive £15 per week for each eligible child.
The report also sets out further recommended spending measures via the CRF, including funding to support eligible low-income families with the purchase of school uniforms, money to allow Hull’s Warm Homes Team to provide energy efficient measures, and resource to provide targeted crisis and resilience support for tenants.
The report will be considered at an Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee on Friday 20 March, ahead of Cabinet being asked to approve the proposed measures on Monday 23 March.
With the approach of the CRF differing to that in place with the HSF, additional measures would be put in place over the coming months to provide for crisis response but also to deliver work aimed at supporting household resilience.
Complementing other preventative initiatives already on offer within the city, this scheme would be put together with partners ahead of Cabinet being asked to approve in the summer.
For more information on the CRF, visit Crisis and Resilience Fund | Hull.
To find out more about cost of living help in Hull, visit Cost of Living | Hull.