COUNCIL bosses have set aside an extra £43,000 to provide food vouchers during school holidays for children who rely on school meals - but warns it WON'T be enough to guarantee a meal for every child during the holidays.

The money - all that is left of the council's holiday food budget - will be added to the £50,000 approved earlier this month. It will be used to provide food vouchers to families in times of need, not just in the school holidays.

The decision, taken at a council executive meeting last week, comes as the authority warned that the number of children claiming free school meals in York was expected to increase this winter as the cost of living - and especially food and fuel - continues to increase.

The council says it would like to provide holiday food vouchers for the remaining school holidays in 2022/23, but warns that the money available will not be enough to cover need.

It estimates that providing vouchers during the holidays for all children who qualify for free school meals could cost £50k - £60k per school holiday week. The level of government funding currently available is insufficient to 'cover the cost of providing free school meals during the school holidays', it stresses.

In addition to allocating the extra £43,000, and ' look(ing) at ways in which this could be supplemented from other sources',

the council's executive agreed a series of other measures designed to help the families of children most at risk of going hungry. It will:

- recommend that ward teams distributing £200,000 allocated for Covid recovery efforts should prioritise organisations that can 'deliver a school holiday food offer targeted at those most in need and for whom other support may not be accessible'.

- lobby the Department for Education to be more flexible on the way its Holiday Activity and Food Programme is applied.

- identify how delivery of the government's new Household Support Fund in York can be targeted specifically at families who qualify for free school meals, once details of the scheme are available

- produce an advice and information pack for families directing them to sources of information and support.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, the authority’s Executive Member for Finance and Performance, said: "Tackling holiday food poverty for local families has been our priority throughout the pandemic and the city’s immediate recovery from its impact. Even with limited funding available, we have made repeated investment to support those children most in need of help."

Cllr Denise Craghill, the council’s Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods, including responsibility for tackling food poverty, added: "With many families struggling financially, and with the cost of living continuing to rise, it’s vitally important we are looking at ways to help and support them over the coming months and ensure that no child is forced to go hungry in York."