KIRKLEES Council will provide free school meal vouchers to thousands of families throughout the summer holidays, with Bradford Council also handed extra funding to support low-income households.

Both local authorities will be helping those families who need it most during the upcoming six-week holidays.

Kirklees will be running a voucher system to help tackle school-holiday hunger.

More than 15,000 children and young people are eligible.

At £15 per child per week, the scheme is worth around £1.4million and continues the support that the council has provided to families throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kirklees Council will administer the scheme, in conjunction with schools and settings, with funding from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Councillor Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, said: “Once again we are showing our enormous commitment to children, young people and families.

“Life continues to be incredibly tough for many people, especially those who are disadvantaged, and we want to reduce this inequality while helping our children to have the best start in life.

“A healthy diet is so important for mental and physical wellbeing and, in the long term, it can have a huge, positive impact on a young person’s life chances.

“The school meals system offers a welcome lifeline to thousands of families across Kirklees. The risk of hunger does not go away at the end of a school term, so it was a very easy decision for us to provide vouchers for all eligible families during the long summer holidays.”

Meanwhile, Bradford Council revealed it has received additional Government funding to help low-income families over the holidays.

Full details of how the local authority will specifically use this money were yet to be confirmed as of last Friday, when the T&A contacted Bradford Council.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: “No child should have to worry about food because they are on holiday from school.

“We have received additional government funding to support low income families this summer.

“Details of how we will be helping families that are most in need will be announced shortly.”

Many children and young people who are entitled to free meals were left in limbo last year when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and schools were closed to most students.

The Government launched a scheme to support those families in need, in the form of vouchers, but it was rife with issues and controversy.

A large number of schools stepped in to fill the void and delivered packed lunches and snacks to the homes of those entitled to the meals.

With most pupils back in schools and able to get their usual free meals, the need for the scheme diminished.

But as the summer holidays approached, local authorities have made the aforementioned plans to continue the support they have provided at different points throughout the pandemic.

Councillor Carole Pattison, Cabinet member for Learning, Aspiration and Communities, said: “Since the start of the pandemic, schools across Kirklees have done fantastic work in providing education and care under the most testing of circumstances.

“We have stood alongside them in offering support to our families.

"We know the difference this is making in helping children to stay healthy, achieve good outcomes and fulfil their potential.

“Financial hardship is very real, and continuing, for thousands of Kirklees families.

"By allocating this funding, we will provide a way for them to feed their children when schools gates are closed.

“There are many other ways that we can help those in our communities who may be in difficulty – if you are struggling, please get in touch with us.”