Debate contribution: Education (Holiday Meal Payments) Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Ms Cara Hunter on 13 April 2026.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

13 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Education (Holiday Meal Payments) Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5483567

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member to my left for sponsoring the Bill and giving us the opportunity to speak further to this important issue today. The Education Minister has made clear his intention to raise educational achievement and reduce educational disadvantage. His goal is shared across the House; every one of us is united on it. If we want that to become a reality rather than just rhetoric, we must take action on the child poverty that exists right now in classrooms across Northern Ireland. Last September, a Trussell Trust report revealed that over half a million people across the North, including over 130,000 children, are experiencing food insecurity. The figure is stark and shocking. Those children are part of the cohort of nearly one in three across the UK who live in poverty. If we are serious about tackling educational underachievement, we must recognise the importance of tackling poverty among our young people. As highlighted by Save the Children, poverty is a major driver of educational underachievement, leading to higher rates of absenteeism and lower grades as well as higher rates of poor mental health and, sadly, lower levels of extracurricular participation. Research shows that, in attending school, some of the most impoverished children benefit from having at least one hot school meal. That might be the only hot square meal that they receive in a day. It is a true lifeline for so many parents already struggling with the rising costs of rent and, now, fuel and, of course, food. We remain concerned, however, that, as the summer holidays approach, those children will be at increased risk of going to bed on an empty stomach. That is linked not with parental failure at budgeting but with the reality that money just does not go as far as it used to. By once again extending a direct payment to the parent of a child on free school meals, we will extend the hope that children will not be sent to bed on an empty stomach. Given what we know about the link between poverty and educational outcomes and between hunger and health, the arguments for returning to that payment are self-evident. Indeed, looking back, we see that families across the North received the school holiday food grant between 2020 and 2023, which supported nearly 100,000 children. We know that that support was withdrawn not because the scheme had failed but simply due to budgetary decisions, but the need did not disappear along with it. Evaluations of that scheme and other schemes internationally have demonstrated that such payments are used, as intended, to purchase food, ease financial pressures and provide a degree of stability during periods that are otherwise particularly challenging for low-income households. We know that the long-term costs of inaction are far greater than the short-term costs of intervention. Children who experience persistent poverty are more likely to face poorer educational outcomes, reduced employment opportunities and, later in life, poorer health outcomes. Addressing food insecurity is not, therefore, just a moral imperative but an economic one. The Bill will not solve child poverty, but it represents a practical step forward, dovetails with the Minister's priorities and could be a positive example of cross-party collaboration. It will ensure that support does not simply stop at the school gate, and it recognises the importance of a child's having the ability to learn and the fact that that does not pause during the school holidays. I firmly believe that, if we are serious about breaking the link between disadvantage and attainment, we must act consistently, not selectively. We cannot champion educational equality during term time and blatantly ignore inequalities and challenges during the school holidays. I strongly believe that Ministers from across the DUP, Sinn Féin, Alliance and the UUP must work more closely together on delivery and particularly on delivery in relation to child poverty, given its prevalence in Northern Ireland. I anticipate that the fundamental issue — the core issue — with the Bill will be the fact that money is a real problem. We have heard from Ministers across the House today about the financial challenges. I would appreciate it, therefore, if Mr Baker could, in his winding-up speech, touch on what conversations he has had with the Finance Minister. That would be welcome. Ultimately, we have the shared goal, across the House, of ending child poverty, keeping our young people's stomachs full and making sure that they have the support that they need inside and outside school, and we really need to understand what this could look like financially. Across the North, families are crying out for support. They have a real desire to see the Executive and Assembly make a real difference that they can feel in their lives. I have had conversations with Danny and can tell that he is genuinely passionate about the issue. The SDLP supports the Bill at Second Stage.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:18 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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