UK government to fund councils to support free school meals programme -

27/10/2020 12:44

        British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to hand councils extra money for holiday clubs, aiming to end a row with Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford over free school meals, The Telegraph reported on Monday.
        
        Johnson is studying a proposal to extend the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme piloted during the summer so children can be provided with at least one free meal a day outside term time, the newspaper said.
        
        A national version of the scheme was estimated to cost 200 million pounds ($260 million) a year, the report said. It could be combined with extra study time for children still catching up after schools were closed in the spring.
        
        Some 1.3 million children are eligible for free lunches at schools in England. The government gave their families food vouchers for the summer school holiday following a campaign by Rashford to provide extra support during the coronavirus crisis. But last week it voted not to do the same during a weeklong school break at the end of October.