Row over holiday provision in Bedford council's free school meals programme

Liberal Democrat councillors argue the council should have introduced temporary free school meal holiday vouchers while the new arrangements were being developed, while the Conservative administration says the new funding system is intended to provide targeted support alongside wider resilience services.

The issue was raised at last week’s Executive (June 3) where Lib Dem councillor Dean Crofts (Kingsbrook) questioned what support would be available to families during the summer holidays.

Councill Crofts told councillors that the borough had previously provided holiday food vouchers through the Household Support Fund and argued support should have continued during the transition to the new Crisis and Resilience Fund.

He said: “We already know who these families are, we get that data from schools.”

In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after the meeting, councillor Crofts said: “Other councils have continued to issue free school meal holiday vouchers whilst the new schemes are developed.

This is what we are asking for at Bedford borough, so that families are not left with nothing.”

The Household Support Fund ended in March and was replaced by the Crisis and Resilience Fund, a Government scheme intended to support crisis payments, housing payments, resilience services and community coordination.

Asked about the use of the new fund for free school meal support during school holidays, a Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told the LDRS: “The £1bn Crisis and Resilience fund will act as a genuine safety net helping to prevent families from falling into crises which could see them become dependent on the welfare state longer term.

“Local authorities will design their schemes with the needs of their area in mind, and this can include using the fund for Free School Meals during school holidays if they feel that is where support is needed.”

Councillor Crofts pointed to Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) as an example of an authority that had chosen to provide free school meal vouchers while introducing its new arrangements under the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Documents published by B&NES show it approved free school meal vouchers for around 4,100 children until the end of Summer 2026 as a transitional measure.

The authority said financial modelling showed that continuing blanket vouchers beyond Summer 2026 would either require council funding or place it in breach of DWP grant conditions.”

Responding to the criticism, the Conservative administration said the borough council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund was not a direct replacement for the Household Support Fund and had to support a wider range of services.

In a statement provided to the LDRS, the administration said: “The Crisis and Resilience is not a like-for-like continuation of the Household Support Fund, nor is it a standalone school holiday voucher fund.

“It is a wider crisis and resilience fund which must support Crisis Payments, Housing Payments, Resilience Services and Community Coordination.”

The statement said the borough council also receives a separate ring-fenced Holiday Activities and Food allocation worth £687,970 in 2026/27, which is intended to support meals alongside activities during school holidays.

According to the administration, providing vouchers worth £15 per child per week to around 7,000 free school meal eligible children would cost around £105,000 per week.

It said a six-week summer voucher scheme would cost approximately £630,000, while covering all school holiday periods across the year would cost around £1.365 million.

The administration said those costs would consume most of the Holiday Activities and Food allocation and exceed the council’s proposed Crisis and Resilience Fund crisis support budget.

It also said Government guidance expects support to be focused on those most in need and linked to a needs-based approach and wider resilience services.

It added families are not being left without support, with school holiday meals and activities continuing through the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. The council said households in crisis without food can be assessed on a case-by-case basis and support can be offered where necessary, including through food bank referrals.

Eligible families were emailed on March 17 explaining that the Household Support Fund had ended, that the final voucher was for February half-term 2026, and that support would still be available through the Holiday Activities and Food Programme and wider welfare options.

During the Executive meeting, finance portfolio holder councillor Marc Frost (Conservative, Wixams and Wilstead) said families experiencing hardship could apply to the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

He said: “The Crisis and Resilience Fund is there for people to make an application if they are in crisis.”