Use the money, people working from home can claim, to fund free school meals. · petition

What the petition asks

Employees, who have worked from home since March, have the opportunity to claim £60-£125 in tax relief in order to pay for heating and electricity costs. However, it is unlikely the public used the heating during the summer lockdown. Therefore, this money should be used to fund free school meals.

The government’s decision to reject free school meals being provided over the holidays, will affect working class families, who due to the pandemic and lack of government support, have struggled financially this year. Instead of £60-£125 going to those who are already earning decent wages, and have saved money on petrol and public transport costs during the first lockdown. We ask the rest of money go towards ensuring children are being fed at least one meal a day, as so many won’t be.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

People who have incurred additional household costs as a result of working from home can claim tax relief on up to £6 a week, or the exact amount of extra costs if they provide evidence of this, but it is up to each individual whether to claim this relief.

If you want the Government to cancel the tax relief for expenses related to working from home, we could accept a petition about this.

If you want the Government to fund free school meals, you might like to sign some of the following petitions:

Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021: Fund free school meals over school holidays until April 2021

Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year: Provide the free school meal entitlement throughout the year.

End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry: End child food poverty – no child should be going hungry

Timeline

23 Oct 2020	Petition opened for signatures
30 Oct 2020	Rejected by the Petitions Committee