Fears of crushing blow to children living in poverty as Bill to address ‘holiday hunger’ reaches Final Stage

A Private Members Bill sponsored by Danny Baker MLA which aims to address the serious issue of ‘holiday hunger’ experienced by many children in low-income families during holiday periods is scheduled to reach its Final Stage on Tuesday 10^th November. The Education (Holiday Meal Payments) Bill would allow families to receive financial payments during holidays in lieu of the Free School Meals their children would be receiving if they were in school.

There has been a suggestion that a Petition of Concern may be deployed to prevent the passing of this legislation.

We believe such a move would be anti-democratic and morally wrong. Anti-democratic in that it functions as a veto mechanism despite the legislation clearly having the support of the majority of MLAs in the NI Assembly. We strongly believe there is also a moral imperative to support the fundamental right to food for children during school holidays, as outlined in Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Where the NI Assembly has consistently failed to address the devastating reality of child poverty in Northern Ireland, this Bill currently represents the only meaningful possibility for progress during the current mandate that is now within our grasp. MLAs must seriously consider whether the legacy of this Stormont mandate will be characterised by turning its back on an opportunity to take action on one of the most serious issues in our society.

Speaking about the latest developments and the vital need for these payments, Susan Lilley from Atlas Women’s Centre said:

“I can’t believe that they would delay these payments to feed children especially children in these family circumstances. It’s very disappointing that people in power would do anything to stop these payments. I’m very disappointed and really hoped that politicians would do better for children.”

The evidence for action is clear. The NI Audit Office has said: “A failure to tackle child poverty early and effectively risks lifelong impacts to children’s health, education and general development. There is also a considerable cost to the public purse, with previous estimates indicating costs of child poverty to be between £825 million and £1 billion annually.”

At a time when it has never been harder to put food on the table, school holidays create a distinct and compounding pressure on family budgets. The additional cost of feeding children who would otherwise receive a free school meal arrives at the same time as many other holiday-period costs: childcare, holiday schemes/activities, and the huge burden of school uniforms and shoes experienced particularly over the summer months.

The evidence from our work, is that families face a cascade of difficult choices when free school meals are not available:

• Adults skip meals altogether or reduce their own food intake to prioritise their children’s meals.
• Families purchase cheaper, less nutritious food and processed and frozen options replace fresh produce.
• Families take on debt – through credit cards or, in some cases, illegal money lenders – to bridge the gap, creating financial harm that extends well beyond the holiday period.
• The mental load of managing meals and making ends meet across holiday periods causes immeasurable stress and anxiety for parents, undermining the wellbeing of the whole family.

We are calling on all political parties and all MLAs to support the Bill as it reaches the Final Stage. This measure would provide much-needed assistance to 90,000 children in low-income households, helping to alleviate ‘holiday hunger’ and ensure parents do not have to skip meals or reduce their own food intake to prioritise their children’s meals. Further, we call on the Department to ensure that there is no detrimental impact on schemes supporting children and young people across our community.

The provisions in the Bill are reasonable and proportionate given the scale of the hardship facing low-income children and families and will help prevent or alleviate these serious issues.

In many ways this Bill is a relatively small, modest step: but a crucially important step. If not this Bill, if not our most disadvantaged children – then what, if any, action can we ever expect from our locally elected representatives.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ‘HOLIDAY HUNGER BILL’.

 

Notes:

A Petition of Concern is a notice signed by at least 30 Assembly members and presented to the Speaker signifying concern about any forthcoming matter on which the Assembly is due to vote. Any vote would then require cross-community support, in other words 50% support from unionists and 50% support from nationalists. The successful deployment of a Petition of Concern would prevent the passing of this legislation.

Education Minister Paul Givan has stated at Further Consideration Stage on 12^th October that he does not support this legislation and has further stated on BBC Talkback on 2^nd November that Petitions of Concern have been initiated on legislation due to come before the Assembly. In response to a question from Danny Baker during Question Time on 2^nd November as to whether he would sign a Petition of Concern regarding the Holiday Hunger Bill, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said:

“I am happy to use all of the tools that are available to me” and “I do take a different approach”.

 

Spokespeople:

Siobhán Harding / Ciara Fitzpatrick

M: 07764 224 360 / 07707 365 738

E: policy@wsn.org.uk / c.fitzpatrick@ulster.ac.uk

 

Signatories

• Act Now NI
• Action for Children in NI
• Advice NI
• Barnardo’s NI
• Children in NI
• Children’s Law Centre
• Ciara Fitzpatrick
• Disability Action
• Employers for Childcare
• Feeding Britain
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation NI
• Law Centre NI
• Mindwise
• NI Anti Poverty Network
• NICCY
• NSPCC
• Save the Children
• STEP
• Trussell
• Unison
• Women’s Regional Consortium
• Women’s Support Network