SHROPSHIRE Council has confirmed thousands of children in the county will receive free school meals during the May half-term holiday.

The council has agreed to extend the support, which was available for children during the Christmas holidays and February half-term, and will also be available over the Easter holiday.

Previous provision was part-funded through the government’s Covid-19 Winter Grant Scheme, but Shropshire Council has agreed to cover the entire costs of the provision for the May half-term.

As with the other holiday periods, funds will be transferred to schools and early years settings to secure vouchers and/or food parcels for eligible families.

Ed Potter, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, said the council recognises the pressures families are under and insists the council is committed to supporting them.

He said: “The provision of free school meals has been an important consideration throughout the pandemic.

“With some 5,500 children qualifying for benefits-related free school meals, we recognised early on the need to support our most vulnerable children outside of term time, in particular those known to children’s social care.

“Government funding enabled us to support eligible children and families up to and including the Easter holiday, but we have now agreed to go one step further and to fully fund the provision of free of schools during the May half-term holiday too.

“This is clearly the right and proper thing to do and I’m sure it will be welcomed by thousands of families across the county.”

Support for individual pupils is £3 per day, Monday through to Friday (£15 per week), for the holiday periods listed above.

This is in line with the value of the vouchers via the government’s national voucher scheme.