End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry
The Parliament petitions site records 1,113,889 signatures for this petition, which closed on 14 April 2021. The Government responded on 11 November 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 24 May 2021.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry
Government should support vulnerable children & #endchildfoodpoverty by implementing 3 recommendations from the National Food Strategy to expand access to Free School Meals, provide meals & activities during holidays to stop holiday hunger & increase the value of and expand the Healthy Start scheme
Covid-19 has been tough on us all but Government should ensure children don’t pay the price:
- 14% of parents & 10% of children have experienced food insecurity over the last 6 months
- 32% of families have lost income as a result of Covid-19
- Demand for food banks this winter is predicted to be 61% higher than last.
With the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, I am calling for Government to allocate money to
- Expand free school meals to all under-16s where a parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefit
- Provide meals & activities during all holidays
- Increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers to at least £4.25 per week, and expand the scheme.
These 3 recommendations must be implemented without delay to #endchildfoodpoverty.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 11 November 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Education as responsible. Its summary:
We thank Marcus Rashford for highlighting the challenges facing families. On 8th November, the Government announced a comprehensive support package to help families through winter and beyond.
The opening 400 words of the 940-word response:
Government have announced a comprehensive package of support to help families through the winter months, and beyond through the new Covid Winter Support grant, increasing the value of Healthy Start Vouchers and the national rollout of the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the longer holidays in 2021.
With Christmas coming, we want to give disadvantaged families peace of mind and help those who need it to have food on the table and other essentials so every child will be warm and well-fed this winter.
Through the Covid Winter Grant Scheme, we are delivering £170 million to local authorities in England starting in December to cover a period until the end of March. This fund builds on the £63 million already distributed earlier this year. This will allow councils to directly help the hardest-hit families and individuals, as well as provide food for children who need it over the holidays. Local councils understand which groups need support, and are best placed to ensure appropriate support is provided – which is why they will distribute the funds, rather than schools, who will continue providing meals for disadvantaged children during term-time.
The Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018, will also be expanded across England next year. It will cover Easter, Summer and Christmas in 2021, and cost up to £220 million. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes – including this summers, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities.
Healthy Start scheme payments are also set to increase from £3.10 to £4.25 a week from April 2021. This scheme supports pregnant women or those with children under four who have a low income and are in receipt of benefits to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. This will help people boost the long-term health of their children.
The Government has also pledged additional funding of £16 million for food distribution charities, with conversations with FareShare and others ongoing as to how this is allocated.
Expand free school meals to all under-16s where a parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefit
• Free school meals provide additional support to disadvantaged pupils, helping them to concentrate, learn and achieve whilst in school. We think it is important that this is targeted at those that need it most.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 5,226, came from Manchester, Withington.
1,101,150 of the signatures were from the UK and 12,739 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Manchester, Withington | 5,226 |
| Bristol West | 4,796 |
| Hornsey and Wood Green | 4,489 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 4,342 |
| Liverpool, Riverside | 4,328 |
| Manchester Central | 4,006 |
| Dulwich and West Norwood | 3,909 |
| Wythenshawe and Sale East | 3,887 |
| Islington North | 3,739 |
| Stretford and Urmston | 3,727 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| North West | 172,737 |
| London | 159,842 |
| South East | 146,158 |
| East of England | 92,399 |
| South West | 89,896 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 87,047 |
| Scotland | 82,824 |
| West Midlands | 76,312 |
| East Midlands | 68,780 |
| North East | 41,643 |
| Wales | 40,301 |
| Northern Ireland | 13,343 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 24 May 2021. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/554276.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
cc08f91ab363ab43… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.