Labour Group
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Northumberland County Council County Hall Morpeth NE612EF |
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To Cllr Glen Sanderson, Leader Northumberland
County Council
Copy
to Daljit Lally, Cath McEvoy-Carr, Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson
Provision
of free school meals and vouchers over the school holidays
We
are writing on behalf of the Northumberland Labour Group and the families of
Northumberland in need of support to ask the Council to provide free school
meals or vouchers over the school holidays to children who qualify for them.
This temporary response to the current Covid-19 crisis should be available up
to and including the Easter holidays when it should be reviewed.
As
you're aware there has been an 18 per cent increase
in children receiving free schools meals between March and October with the
actual numbers going from 7,473 in March to 8,818 in October.
These
families have been plummeted into needing free school meals through no fault of
their own. The 18 per cent rise means 1,345 new children are now requiring free
school meal support since the pandemic began and it is expected that this
number will continue to rise.
Many
families across our county suddenly cannot afford to pay bills and sustain
normal lifestyles and are genuinely concerned about the future and feeding
their children.
We
should be showing them support during the school holiday and supporting these
families over the coming months.
As
you know, a number of councils, including our neighbouring councils of North
Tyneside and Newcastle, have stepped in where the national government did not,
to provide much needed support. We believe this is the right and decent thing
for Northumberland County Council to do.
There
has been overwhelming support offered from individuals and business in
Northumberland who have stepped in, while this failing government shows how
little it cares for struggling families.
As
generous and selfless as this is, we believe we should not be putting extra
pressure on individuals and businesses, many of whom are struggling themselves
due to Covid-19 restrictions, to provide a vital lifeline when it is quite
clear that government should respond.
We
are aware that Northumberland County Council has its own financial pressures,
however so do all the other councils who have stepped up to the mark and the
government is telling us that they have provided funding to local government to
deal with issues such as this.
We
are also aware that this is not a long term, sustainable solution to child
poverty in our county and we are happy to work with you to develop a
much-needed strategy, however urgent action is needed on this issue now.
We
look forward to your response
Susan
Dungworth
Susan
Dungworth, Leader Labour Group
Scott
Dickinson
Scott
Dickinson, Deputy Leader, Labour Group
