Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Written evidence submitted by Alex Montegriffo, Community Organiser and Campaigns Manager at Devizes and District Foodbank (CWSB137)

Call for Evidence for Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Introduction: As a community organiser at Devizes and District Foodbank, a rural Trussell food bank in Wiltshire, I work with households coming into the food bank, our referral agencies, other charities, and the wider community to understand the local drivers that are pushing people towards food bank need. I work with people with lived experience who want to make a change to help them develop activist skills and form grassroots campaigns. Grassroots campaign teams engage with decision-makers to get their desired change to reduce the need for food banks and allow people to have enough income to afford the essentials in a dignified manner.

The food bank community organising team has been working with families affected by the cut-off of universal Free School Meals after Year 2, and has previously worked with families around school uniform affordability, both of which feature in this bill.

Summary of points:

· We support the inclusion of breakfast clubs at primary schools as we have been supporting increasing numbers of children with emergency food parcels at Devizes and District Foodbank since records began in 2016. These children will likely go to school hungry and unable to learn.

· We support a statutory limit on the number of branded items of uniform at schools, as we know that families in our area spend at least £200-300 a year on uniform, which could be a whole month’s worth of the child element of Universal Credit. This could be lowered with the option of unbranded items, especially saving on travel to a specialist uniform shop.

· We support Dr Simon Opher MP’s NC2 amendment to this bill calling for Free School Meals for all primary school age children. The income threshold of £7,400 for families on Universal Credit excludes many clients of the food bank who would greatly benefit from this support.

Evidence:

(1) Devizes and District Foodbank has supported increasing numbers of children, as well as total numbers of individuals, with emergency food support and financial inclusion since 2016. In 2016-17, we supported 445 children, rising to 1085 in 2019-20 and then further to 1181 in 2023-24. Children made up over 40% of the 2850 individuals we supported that year. We are alarmed at the rising numbers of children in poverty, and we have qualitative data through interviews and surveys that wider Free School Meal coverage and more affordable school uniform would particularly help families to remain out of poverty.

(2) The inclusion of breakfast clubs at primary schools should be made more consistent – i.e. should be required by law. From attending Wiltshire Council’s Affordable Schools Strategy, some schools are making progress towards affordability in the ongoing cost of living crisis, while some (although more likely secondary schools) are not. As most schools currently have over-stretched budgets, it would be to their benefit to have greater Free School Meal coverage and ideally national auto-enrolment to access Pupil Premium payments for schemes such as breakfast clubs.

(3) We strongly support a limit on the number of branded items of school uniform – ideally to about 3 or 4 items including PE kit, and with a choice of two or more suppliers. Despite statutory and non-statutory guidance in 2021, parents and guardians regularly report their school still requiring mostly branded items or only having one supplier which may not be best value-for-money. With support from the food bank, parents and guardians affected by this issue campaigned to lower uniform costs in Wiltshire. They discovered that the average cost of uniform was £200-300 a year locally, while the preferred cost was £85-105 a year (from a group of about 15 parents and guardians, and a survey of 230 in the Devizes and District area). For families on low incomes, they often had to borrow money from friends or family to buy uniform, especially for first-time school-goers, or were unable to afford other items and hence needed to use a food bank. This is one of the reasons local Trussell food banks have a specific summer holiday parcel scheme which schools signpost families towards to receive food parcels – this is particularly utilised by families on Free School Meals. Some direct quotes from those involved in the campaign are included:

"When my son started at secondary school in 2003, his uniform items set me back about £50, and it was simple and practical, no ridiculous and expensive blazer, just a sweatshirt and polo shirts with the school logo, and PE kit. Even so, one of my friends, a single parent on a limited income, was distraught when her son lost his new PE shirt, which had cost £15."

"It is so much bigger than ‘unaffordable uniform’. It’s the massive long list of ‘compulsory items’ that makes uniform expensive, along with a grossly monopolised market that’s been allowed to grow and cement over many, many years."

"Schools should allow cheaper providers of their uniforms. Most primary schools already allow non logo uniforms, which allows you options of where to purchase, but currently secondary schools in this area only allow uniform with logos on, and only one place to purchase from. I'm all for school uniforms, it reduces the chances of being bullied for not wearing the latest branded clothing etc, but uniforms should be available at more affordable prices."

(4) We strongly support the amendment for Free School Meals for all primary school age children, as is the case in Scotland and Wales (both in 2024). England is lagging behind in this respect, as the cliff edge of universal Free School Meals after Year 2 means families see a sudden increase in outgoings – on average reported as £350 a year. As national Trussell data shows, families with 3 or more children are over-represented in food banks – 30% of all parcels in the UK in 2023-24 were for such families. As well as the two-child benefit limit, families are affected by the limited eligibility for Free School Meals, particularly with managed migration to Universal Credit where anyone earning over £7,400 annually is ineligible. At Devizes and District Foodbank, although our clients are on average people in single person households, we’ve seen a sharp rise in need from lone parents and couples with children since 2019-20, most markedly for single parents (a 130% increase from 2018-19 to present). Free School Meals save families money, give children a nutritious meal to be able to learn and grow, and benefit schools via Pupil Premium. An anonymous case study with permission from the parent is included:

"Universal Credit leaves this person £100 short every month, leaving them struggling to buy food after paying living costs. They have a family member who is able to help them buy food, however this person is also becoming short of money. Their oldest child is no longer eligible for Free School Meals (FSMs), and the parent previously received a supermarket voucher over the summer from the school (through the Household Support Fund), but not this year due to the child no longer being eligible for FSMs. They work part-time and would love to work full-time again but Universal Credit would be reduced, and childcare costs would likely be as much as they earned. They feel stuck and are scared of not being able to pay their mortgage. They described having an almost empty fridge most of the time."

January 2025