Issue details

Doncaster Council want all children to have access to a meal. Under normal circumstances, children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a free school meal. During these exceptional times of closures due to Covid 19, children are not accessing this provision. Families accessing benefits are being accessed to check their eligibility for benefit related free school meals. However, many families affected by the
reduction of income related to Covid 19 are not entitled to benefits and the impact of additional food costs is significant. This impact remains during the school holiday period. The cost of providing a meal during the Easter holidays at 100% take up would be £161,423. An update on actual take up numbers will be known once details of the claims procedure is communicated to schools. Doncaster Council is providing a school meal delivery hamper for children on roll at special schools where there family requests it. This is due to the number of families self isolating or shielding due to their children’s vulnerability. The maximum cost would be
£13,650. Doncaster Council will provide a FSM voucher to children meeting eligibility criteria who are not yet on a school roll. This will be a maximum cost of £5,460. This currently stands at 28 children.