Petition · past parliament
#MakeTheUturn - Free School Meals for the 1.3 million children over the Summer
Rejected
10 signatures
What the petition asks
No child should go hungry in our country. We call on the Government make the U-turn to extend free school meals to all children living in poverty, including low-income working families. This roughly equates to 1.3 million children.
The pandemic has left many families struggling with food insecurity. The Government’s decision not to extend Free School Meal provision or vouchers across the summer holidays will mean many children will go hungry. Free school meals provide vital support for low-income families and for almost a third of children, school lunch is their main meal of the day.
Extending this scheme can potentially decrease health inequalities and ensuring a holiday without hunger for our country's children.
Extending this scheme can potentially decrease health inequalities and ensuring a holiday without hunger for our country's children.
Why it was rejected
The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.
Since you started your petition, the Government has extended the voucher scheme to cover the school summer holidays. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you find out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/
Timeline
| 16 Jun 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 24 Jul 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
10
Status
Rejected
Rejected
24 Jul 2020
Follow this petition
Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.
Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.