GMB: Piers Morgan hits out at ‘shocking’ school meals hamper

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered an investigation into the free school meals scandal that left families receiving as little as £5 worth of food in what was meant to be a £30 package lasting a school week. The Government has outsourced the free school meals programme to a private catering firm, Chartwells, which is run by £24.8billion-earning Compass Group UK & Ireland. Until recently, the company’s chairman was a prominent donor to the Conservative party.

Following an investigation, Chartwells UK said it was providing five days of school lunches valued at £10.50, which still falls very short of what they should have been providing.

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford spoke with the Prime Minister on Wednesday, who said he “committed to correcting” the free school meals scandal.

Mr Rashford, who has been lobbying the Government to continue providing nutritional support for school children during the holidays, said he had had “a good conversation with the Prime Minister”.

The footballer added: “He has assured me that he is committed to correcting the issue with the food hampers and that a full review of the supply chain is taking place.

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“He agrees that images of hampers being shared on Twitter are unacceptable.”

Mr Rashford shared an image of four apples, one tin of baked beans, a few cartons of juice and some snacks, which he said was intended to feed a family for three days.

The striker said he had spoken with Chartwells, who were due to hold talks with the Department of Education, and stressed they weren’t the only free school meals provider contacted by the Government.

Mr Rashford added: “One thing that is clear is that there was very little communication with the suppliers that a national lockdown was coming.

“We MUST do better. Children shouldn’t be going hungry on the basis that we aren’t communicating or being transparent with plans. That is unacceptable.”

A Chartwells UK spokesperson said: “We have had time to investigate the picture circulated on Twitter.

“For clarity this shows five days of free school lunches (not 10 days) and the charge for food, packaging and distribution was actually £10.50 and not £30 as suggested.

“However, in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry that the quantity has fallen short in this instance.”

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How to get a free school meals voucher

Before you can get free school meals, you need to make sure you’re eligible to apply.

Your child could be able to get free school meal vouchers if you’re on any of the following:

• Income support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying
• Universal Credit

Your child may also get free school meals if you get any of the above benefits and your child is both:

Younger than the compulsory age for starting school
In full-time education

If your child is eligible for the scheme, they will remain so until they finish their current phase of schools they’re in on March 31, 2022.

If you want to apply to get the vouchers, you can do so here via the Gov.UK website.

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