Cost of Living Announcements and future food policy updates

Welcome cost of living announcements and future food policy updates  

Last week's spending review set out the Government stall in terms of how they plan to lift some of the most vulnerable out of poverty.  

Many of the headlines will be familiar - I’ve highlighted them in previous articles and at past Food Alliance meetings, and include:    

All have the potential to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable residents, including addressing food insecurity.   

As with all announcements – the devil is always in detail. I’ve summarised below what we know at this stage: 

Expanding Free School Meals eligibility  

£410 million per year will be provided by 2028-29 to expand Free School Meals eligibility to all pupils in England with a parent receiving Universal Credit. An additional £80 million per year by 2028-29 will be provided to early years and post-16 settings to support this expansion. The Government claims this will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of Parliament.  

The associated benefit of course is that more Children will be eligible to attend Holiday and Food or HAF activity running across School holidays.  

Replacing the Household Support Fund with a new Crisis and Resilience Fund 

£842 million per year (£1 billion including the Barnett impact), will be allocated on a multi-year basis (incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments and funding to local authorities to provide preventative support in communities – to this new fund. This is likely to include greater cooperation with the voluntary and community sector – to assist people faced with a financial crisis. And we look forward to continuing to work with the Community Grants team at Cheshire East Council. One of the key objectives of this fund should be 'helping to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels', which is a Government manifesto pledge.  

Support for the NHS Healthy Start scheme 

This commitment is the vaguest of all three. There is little detail on whether the support is to continue the scheme in its current form, or whether funding is being made available to reform it. Either way the announcement is welcome. Up to 800 beneficiaries across Cheshire East are missing out on financial support to buy fruit and vegetables. Raising awareness of the scheme and speaking to / supporting those who may be eligible is key. To enable this, we have recently launched Healthy Start Community Champions training. The training is online and is free of charge.   

This support is on top of the previous announcement to deliver free breakfast clubs to every primary-aged child in England. 750 schools are currently participating as Early Adopters, including across Cheshire East.  

Other positive announcements include more safe, secure and affordable homes. Unaffordable, insecure housing is pushing people into homelessness and poverty. But will all this positivity be undermined by the looming cuts to social security. A recent Trussell Trust article suggests the welfare reform bill risks forcing nearly half a million disabled people to turn to food banks.  

Significant anniversaries for both Food Active and Feeding Britain  

Food Active are 20. This week I attended their meeting in Liverpool. This is a healthy weight programme delivered by the Health Equalities Group, and commissioned by Cheshire East Council, and many other local authorities across the country. At the meeting they highlighted a number of national policy updates which are on their way, which should have a positive impact on the food system. These include:  

Feeding Britain are 10. They have been instrumental – alongside many other groups and individuals in the Government announcements above. For example three years ago, they worked with Emma Lewell MP, to secure a parliamentary debate on the topic of Free School Meals eligibility. Since then, they have engaged with the Child Poverty Taskforce on the need to revise those criteria and ensure that no child living in poverty is excluded. I’m proud that we are part of the Feeding Britain network, and that we have contributed towards this system change.