February 2020
Dear Constituent,
Thank you for writing to me about the School Breakfast Bill.
I agree with you that all children should have access to a good breakfast before school for the benefit of their learning, attendance, behaviour and attainment. I know that Ministers also share this goal and are committed to ensuring that no child starts the school day hungry. It is welcome that many support programmes are already in place that provide healthy and nutritious breakfasts to many thousands of children across the country.
The Government has spearheaded numerous policy initiatives to ensure that no child goes hungry, such as the National School Breakfast (NSB) Programme. So far, 1,800 school breakfast clubs have been created by the Programme which now offers support to over 280,000 children in some of the most deprived areas of England.
In addition to the NSB Programme, I am pleased that the Holiday Activities and Food Programme is being extended vastly, with £220m of funding to provide enriching activities and a healthy meal for disadvantaged children in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.
For more information please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/holiday-activities-and-food-programme/holiday-activities-and-food-programme-2021
I do hope that this response has reassured you that substantial action, including unprecedented additional support during the Covid-19 pandemic, is already being taken to ensure that children do not go hungry, and please be assured that I will continue to monitor the situation very closely indeed.
Thank you again for writing to me.
With best wishes.
Kind regards,
Jonathan Lord MP
Member of Parliament for Woking