By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
The number of children in Nottinghamshire claiming free school meals has increased by 20 per cent during the pandemic.
Council figures show the number of children claiming free school meals in the county alone was 23,649 in April 2021.
In April 2020 it was 19,783, meaning the figure has risen by 3,866 children, or 19.5 per cent.
A total of 111,817 children across primary and secondary schools (excluding independent schools) were registered by the council this year.
Richard Ward, of Chilwell, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was not surprised by the figures.
Mr Ward is Chairman of the Phoenix Foundation, which set up a food bank during the pandemic, and is currently handing out around 120 parcels a week.
He said: “There was going to be an increase in the need for free school meals because they have taken away the £20 a week universal credit.
“It is taking food off people’s tables, people can’t feed their families.
“The issue is that now we are coming out of the pandemic and we are starting to live life again, people can’t afford what they could before.
“Prices are skyrocketing, it’s ridiculous.
“It puts more strain on food banks, there is more demand again for food parcels when there shouldn’t be.
“As a country, we are going backwards. We’ve got to take a big look at ourselves because we are ruining our children’s future.”
There was widespread criticism of the Government earlier this month after the Universal Credit uplift of £20 was stopped – but the Government responded by saying the uplift was always a temporary measure.
On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is due to raise wages for millions of public sector workers in an attempt to counteract increasing pressure on household budgets.
“The economic impact and uncertainty of the virus meant we had to take the difficult decision to pause public sector pay,” he said.
“And now, with the economy firmly back on track, it’s right that nurses, teachers and all the other public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise.”
Overall around 19.8 per cent of primary and 18.2 per cent of secondary children are currently claiming free school meals in the county.
Five years previously the rate was 12.4 per cent for both primary and secondary children.
Children qualify for free school meals during term time if their household earns less than £7,400 per year.
The free school meals figures will be discussed during the Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee on November 1.
Papers for the meeting state: “It is unclear however if these families were eligible for [free school meals] prior to the pandemic and chose not to claim previously.
“We cannot conclude from this data that levels of child poverty have increased in Nottinghamshire since the latest published data of 2018/19, or since the Covid-19 pandemic began; but we can say that more families are claiming entitlements such as free school meals.”
It comes as the number of Universal Credit claimants in the county has doubled since 2020 from 12,985 to 24,795.
During the meeting on Monday, councillors will vote on setting aside £2.3 million to provide free school meals for October half term, the Christmas holidays and February half term which will reach up to 27,500 children.
The Government extended free meals for eligible children into the holidays last year using a voucher system, and later extended this at Christmas following a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford.
Instead some councils including Nottinghamshire are planning to use their own budgets to fund meals for eligible children during school holidays.
