FREE lunches for schoolchildren should be provided over the summer holidays to ensure that they do not go hungry as a result of coronavirus’s economic effects, Labour has said.

Nearly 1.3 million pupils in England are eligible for free meals, usually provided at school during term time.

As schools have been closed during the pandemic, a supermarket voucher scheme has been established instead, giving £15 a week per child to provide food support to children at home. Following public pressure, this was extended to cover the May half-term break.

But the government confirmed earlier this month that it would not continue the voucher scheme or fund free school meals over the six-week summer holiday.

This is despite the Welsh government announcing that it will continue funding free school meals over the summer, providing each eligible child with the equivalent of £19.50 a week.

In England’s poorest areas, summer holiday hunger schemes are being starved of cash. 

Foodbanks have also reported unprecedented rises in the number of people, including families with children, using their services in March and April, when the full range of lockdown measures were in force.

Shadow education secretary Rebecca Long Bailey launched a Holidays Without Hunger campaign today to demand that the government reverse the decision.

She said: “Parents should not be forced to decide whether to feed themselves or their children over the upcoming summer holidays, when the government could easily continue providing free school meals.

“We know that the time spent away from school will have widened inequalities between children further and disadvantaged children need more support than ever during this pandemic.

“The government has repeatedly said it will do ‘whatever it takes’ to help our economy through this crisis. The same should apply to children who are at risk of going hungry for six weeks this summer.”