Debate contribution: Holiday Hunger and the High Cost of School Uniforms

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 12 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

12 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Holiday Hunger and the High Cost of School Uniforms

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4658745

Read the official Assembly record

Text

As has been said, at the start of the pandemic, the North introduced holiday hunger payments with a cash-first approach, which gave struggling families some dignity and control over their finances during school holidays. Despite some of the counterpoints, tackling poverty is not complicated. Over 100,000 children benefited from those payments. Inexplicably, in March 2023, the Department failed to allocate enough funding for the scheme to continue. That was in the middle of a post-COVID economic crisis that saw food price inflation soar, and that inflation has not come down since. The removal of holiday hunger payments has not only harmed children who are eligible for free school meals but put huge pressure on community and voluntary organisations, as Members have said. Trussell Trust food banks in the North distribute over 38,000 emergency food parcels for children. That is hard to believe, and is a 150% increase in the past five years. Managers of food banks have identified one key reason for that statistic: removal of the holiday hunger payment. School holidays should be a time when families are excited and look forward to spending time together. Instead, in 2024, many are filled with dread, thinking about how they will cover the extra cost of meals each day. Hopefully, all of us agree that working-class children do not deserve to go hungry over school holidays. The question is this: what is going to be done about it? The solution is simple: we need to stop punishing working-class children and reinstate the holiday hunger payment in time for the 2025 summer holidays. I call on the Minister to do so. Contrary to the point made by the Member for East Belfast, there is plenty of money to fund that. The will is lacking. Dare I say that we should be more ambitious and offer free school meals to all children.

Sure.

The Member should probably read my party's website and statements, which say that, while there is austerity —.

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. They say that, while there is austerity, there is plenty of money around. You do not even have to look across the water: Moy Park is the richest company in the North's history. It has a revenue of £2 billion, but you support and welcome that and do not call for extra taxes or higher rates on that company. There is money there. That is one company. Some schools have taken it upon themselves to offer free meals to all pupils. It is a pity that cash-strapped schools are bearing the cost of that rather than the state. The Education Minister has long promised a public consultation on the eligibility criteria — those words again — for free school meals and school uniform grants. It would be helpful if he could commit to a specific timeline for that. As has been mentioned, the research from Parentkind paints a stark picture of how parents across the North struggle to afford the cost of sending their children to school. Two thirds of them said that the cost of school uniforms is their biggest struggle. Non-binding guidance for schools on uniform policy simply will not cut it; it is not strong enough. There is overwhelming public support for a cap on uniform costs. It is time for the Minister to deliver on that. The consultation on school uniform policy closed at the end of September. At a bare minimum, the Minister should provide an update on the outcome of that consultation so that legislation can be implemented before September 2025 to ensure that we do not go through this rigmarole again next summer. Ministers should be ashamed that some families in society cannot afford to send their kids to school. That is effectively denying working-class children their basic right to education. On holiday hunger and the cost of school uniforms, the Executive need to give people more than just empty words. Parties that have failed to alleviate child poverty for over a decade already know what is needed to stop people going hungry; they have just refused to do it. The long-awaited anti-poverty strategy will be brought before the Executive in early 2025. The anti-poverty expert panel, the NI Audit Office, the Public Accounts Committee and many others have told the Executive what they need to do to tackle child poverty. My question is this: will the Minister and the Executive listen?

734 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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