Can you all see the chat?

I’m saying something now!

yep

yes

yep

yup

Can hear :)

yep

yes, can hear you

Loud and clear

yes

yep

yes

all good

Yes :)

yep

Yes

loud and clear

Yep all clear here

Yes, I can hear you.

yep!

=)

yes

Yes

Hi

yes

Audio is great!

yep

yes

Hi

all good

hi - yes

Yes

I can hear

Hello - can hear

yep

yes I can

Yes

all ok

hello

yes I can hear

yes

Emma Holmes Clinical Lead PH Dietetics, Cardiff and Vale UHB. CAn hear .Thanks you

Audio's good thanks :)

i cant hear a thing

you need to accept audio

Good morning, I am a recent BSc Nutrition graduate and at the same time a single mum who receives FSM vouchers.

Please put yourself on mute

the sound is a bit poor - can you please remind everyone to mute ?

There iss a lot of background noise please can everyone mute themselves.

Please mute yourselves if you can. Can we ask all those who have recently joined also to stop their video.

Louise is having audio difficulties, I'm happy to pick it up while she sorts them out

If you have any questions for Rupert and Amanda from Hampshire please do type them in the chat!

really interested in how you are charging schools

Are you able to share those recipes at all?

question: what about children with special diets? how are the food packs adapted to suit these needs?

How are you reaching those children/families without internet access?

Are you able to share the shopping lists for those on the vouchers?

Can you share the shopping list examples for vouchers?

Hi All, I have also made an infographic for 4 meal ideas that can be made for less than £3 which I shared on twitter and can share with the group, please email me at Emily.fallon@maldon.gov.uk

for Amanda: does the engagement vary as a factor of SES? Teachers reporting low levels of engagement for some children. Most vulnerable families have no/limited web access.

How do you meet the needs of children who are living in a household where main caregiver is in the shielded group ?

Have you produced anything in other language to support BAME communities

good for Rupert, our dietary data show those children getting supplies/meals from school caters have better dietary profiles compared to school vouchers.

Hi Amanda and Rupert, how have you managed special diets during this time?

Hi, couple of questions - 1) How often are the picnic boxes being provided to families? Do they come in daily to collect them?

2) What is generally being provided?

You have asked parents, but have you spoken to children at all about what they would like to see for their FSMs?

Hello - Have you any guidance on passing funding on to food suppliers from UIFSM and FSM - This may be a consequence of PPN 02/20

Wales have recently announced a continuation of FSM provision over the summer holidays. What pressure has been placed on other authorities to do the same?

could you please put the link on here?

School have FSM/UIFSM funding already, as part of the support for suppliers this funding should be made available to them for continuation and retention purposes if they are at risk. Some schools are refusing to support with this funding? your thoughts and advice please?

That was a great overview of such a great initiative - thank you Rupert and Amanda

Thanks Amanda and Rupert for your presentation

will the slides be sent after please?

Excellent practice. Does the DfE have any data on the number and type of schemes across England and the distribution of vouchers versus hamper models?

Yes we will be circulating the slides, and it will be part of the recording.

Louise, What you are doing is great. We are doing something similar in Kentish Town, Camden. My community centre is fundraising to allow local teachers to go shopping (at the wholesalers) to provide food for their children. We have 240 children on low incomes involved in the proiect. Supported by Kitchen Social and other funders. www.ktcc.org.uk

to Louise - is your scheme same as New York where ALL 0-18 years have nutritionally balanced 'grab and go' for 2 meals a day?

in terms of food hampers - do all families have access to the same sort of cooking facilities?

are these meals going out chilled? how do you manage to keep the meals compliant

you guys are doing INCREDIBLE work there!

Do you receive any donations of HFSS food and drinks, if yes, how do you feel about such donations?

how do you recruit local chefs? are they not struggling financially to be able to support? such fantastic and inspiring work, thank you ever so much for sharing

Thank you Rupert and Amanda for sharing your insights. Love your passion, great work.

Louise, are NRPF children fed by your system?

Good questions Sharon!

Great insight Louise, well done on what you have been doing

Can I ask what the hampers is costing per hamper?

Thank you, I have seen some examples posted online, thanks, this is good to hear!

Thanks Louise, so are children with NRPF being fed across the whole of Hackney or your hub?

do you have any learnings on new ways of working safely in kitchens?

If you have questions for Jenny please do type them in the chat!

There is an increasing number of parents and carers who have contacted schools regarding their eligibility for free school meals vouchers after the announcement by the Children’s Minister, Vicky Ford. These parents and carers are in the process of having their Universal Credit claims assessed.According to this announcement, it appears that schools can now issue free school meals vouchers to parents who have applied for Universal Credit before they receive evidence relating to their claim. Should they go ahead and issue the vouchers in line with the announcement.

that’s a great Q Maria

Jenny, have you asked children what kinds of food they would like to eat and to try and fit these within the meal standards?

can you please share these with us Jenny? or are they available on social media / a website? many thanks, great materials

Jenny these guidelines and suggestions are so helpful for parents - hope you’ll be sharing widely!

ah I see - we’ll share too obvs!

I have two questions: some of my clients were given free school meals as part of a borough wide scheme but would not be entitled to means tested free school meals and now they are not receiving food for their children and are

Do the shopping lists and menu ideas change / how can we get hold of these?

What about feedback cards with delivery, so the people getting food can give their insights about what works, what doesn?

Jenny I think this is a fantastic initiative. Could there be any interest from supermarkets in making pre-made up shopping baskets available?

How are you ensuring families without access to internet accessing your resources, such as the daily cook along?

I would assume that many families will incorporate the food hampers into their 'usual' food store cupboard rather than using the ingredients for that particular child. Thoughts?

sorry , follow from above:are not now receiving the meal any more . Also parents that are not receiving free meals although entitled how they can go about?

Paula, this is a very good question!

Is there any data on what exactly are the food vouchers are spent on? We know that very low SES is associated with a very low quality diet, so those families may be buying very low quality food. How do you reach such families?

Any information/progress networking with independent stores eg.Spar Costcutter instead of main supermarkets

Good question @Magdalena

Live 'cook-alongs with chefs seems exciting! Who is this who is this aimed at? Can you stream at supermarkets/

In Wales, we are providing information like this on a national level but also as a public health dietetic lead we work very closely with our local authority in Cardiff to produce information that would be useful for families and also mapping to parcels that are delivered for shielded/self isolating families so families have enough food to cook meals for the whole family.

this is an area I’m interested in too. schools need to be sure that they will receive funding. what happens if UC is refused? School need direction and clarity so that we have a nationwide approach to food and entitlement. in our area we use vouchers at parents do seem to prefer them

The Welsh government has committed £33m to LA's to provided FSM for children during the summer holidays what are the plans for England?

Do we know what proportion of schools are offering hampers/ lunch boxes compared to the DfE food vouchers?

@Deborah David - vouchers for Aldi available from 27 April as we understand

@Natalie great question, would really like to know that

Are there or will there be data researchers (and others) can access with regards to uptake, vouchers vs meals etc?

id like to ask Andy at what point did DfE decide to fund FSM through the Easter holidays and when did they inform EdenRed

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

Question: Can schools be refunded for each FSM meal served, like the vouchers, rather than by the additional costs mechanism? This would incentivise schools to take this up, the voucher scheme guarantees funding, but Heads are nervous about their chances of recovering additional costs

Extending recourse to NRPF was really welcome, thank you

Why was the income threshold for free school mealsbeing set so much lower for the families with no recourse to public funds than

The guidance on when schools can reclaim funding for using other voucher scheme isn't clear - please can Andy give us a clear description of where schools can claim back?

will the voucher scheme be extended to Lidl, Co-op, independent local grocery stores?

It is for other families. What will the DfE do to protect undocumented children not receiving section 4 or 17 support? The majority of undocumented children are not receiving this support

The food parcel / school food offer is mentioned as a preferred option and you recognise its value but as vouchers are centrally funded this appears to be a financial incentive as you do not have to touch current FSM/UIFSM funds ?

It would be great to hear about funding for FSM during the school holidays once schools are back up and running normally to help combat holiday hunger. Is this something being considered?

Andy: will the DfE summer holiday funded programmes be adjusted to deliver across the summer? Potentially working in partnership with current 'alternative' school meal provision?

have the numbers you quoted been validated by DfE?

I agree Milly, the vouchers need to be exchanged in all food supply outlets.

can we have clarity on funding and costs of catering contracts where there is little income but still paying staff without benefit of furlough

Two questions re the vouchers - and a request for media comms to reflect advice that food provision should be the first option wherever possible?1. Are there any plans to extend voucher provision beyond the current period of school closure? If not, what are the plans to communicate to / support parents who will have come to expect / rely on the additional income?2. Is there a possibility to add other approved voucher providers to ease demand on Edenred?

Agree, aVouchers should be accepted at convenience stores as well as main supermarkets

Some families who are self isolating cannot get to a store to use a voucher. Or incur delivery charge to have food delivered .

Is there a possibility to add other approved voucher providers to ease demand on Edenred?

Our company caters for over 200 schools. Half of these are closed, (decision by the schools). As an organisation, we are at risk, despite many of our staff being furloughed, however we still have central overheads costs, ongoing sundry costs (insurances etc) as well as paying for staff that are working in the schools that are open. The PPN02/20 guidance notes suggests that we cannot furlough staff and claim for support from our school clients. If we dont get support for our usual FSM/UIFSM charges, on top of the furlough scheme, then we are at severe risk of not surviving. Can the PPN02/20 guidance be updated to provide clarity for group catering suppliers in this regard?

Can the vouchers be exchanged at local food markets?

I there any way these vouchers can be redeemed by local authority caterers and external catering companies rather than the big supermarkets?

I’d welcome clarity about UFSM. guidance says not mean tested but Vicky Ford suggests that they can be paid discretionary.? is that correct? is that fair to those children out of that group, ie from Y3 upwards?

Are DfE planning for the reopening of schools and what are the thoughts on PPE for teachers and support staff, some of whom work in confined spaces where social distancing will be a challenge?

sorry guidance states only means tested FS

I would also like the response to the question: 1. Are there any plans to extend voucher provision beyond the current period of school closure? If not, what are the plans to communicate to / support parents who will have come to expect / rely on the additional income? We have seen an extension for summer in Wales. The summer period is where the impact will be felt most greatly so we’d really like the Gov in England to do the same thing

what is planned for large proportion of vulnerable children expected to continue attending school who are not attending

Can you type out the PPN02/20 email address?

useful question @eileeno'keefe

schools and caterers had no idea that children would receive support through the Easter holidays, at what point did DfE decide and when were EdenRed told?

Any guidance available for children in home education who are now eligible for free school meals? we were told they are not eligible for vouchers. is the going to be reviewed where their circumstances have changed?

Good question Eileen - suspect many very vulnerable children would slip through the net

Maximum monthly household income for NFPF families is £616 to be eligible for FSM. Why such low cut off? Is is a politicals decision not neds

could the presenters have all the questions in the chat shared with them and be asked to share beef answers to them all? There are some really important questions coming up that won’t have time to be answered here.

agree milly

so there are NO restrictions?

agree milly

brief - not ‘beef’ :-)

Andy there is a lot of confusion regarding the voucher scheme as the guidaince is constantly been updated. Is there a way of making this clearer to avoid the information overload? Parents get overwhelmed with the information.

DfE expectations are clear but not clear on what the spend is. There are ways of doing this.

Maximum monthly household income for NRPF families is £616 to be eligible for FSM. Why such low cut off? Is it a political decision not children's food/nutritional needs?

so DfE don’t know how much is actually being spent?

Are direct payments to families to schools covered as part of local solutions? Over half the councils in Wales are encouraging schools to take this approach, which has been much more effective than vouchers or food parcels.

@Andy Jolley - there is a note on the e-voucher and template text for schools to print stating the voucher can't be exchanged for age-restricted products

There has been work done collectively on reimbursing contractors by Merton; Sutton; Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston which I am sure could be shared with other contracted out LAs

If PPN/02 only covers the cost of FSM provision, is the DfE advice to furlough staff where there is no revenue from parents paying?

@Sharon Noonan-Gunning - think this was set to match the same income threshold as for the FSM criteria for non NRPF children?

jo, that’s great, I’m sure everyone takes notice of the advice

would be interested Vic

Andy why is there a differnce in the FSM allowance between England and Wales?

and supermarkets!

What further support for families who find that their voucher isn't valid when they arrive at the till?And:Will the Government provide clearer guidance to schools who aren't providing food support for children on UIFSM

are these vouchers going to continue during the summer holidays like Wales?

@Andy ... don't they always?! If it's any consolation, we had a call from a supermarket worker who had enforced the restriction with a parent who had attempted to use the voucher to purchase alcohol and cigarettes!

I think that is the same as the UC threshold?

In Cardiff we recognise that ‘one size’ does not fit all. We have been working with Parentpay to set up direct payments to parents, parents also are able to opt for supermarket vouchers or food parcels instead

PHE Centre Health and Wellbeing Teams are working with local authorities to gauge how the FSM vouchers and emergency food parcels are being spent and being used. Sharing local resources where possible across regional networks

And most undocumented children continue to be excluded - There are 215,000 undocumented in the UK

yes, it does. same UTC threshold

£7400 for UC. It was £16,190 prior (without WTC)

I’ve had this information: An NRPF family can qualify for FSM vouchers during COVID-19 if the household income is less than £7.4k. For a non-NRPF family, they get this £7.4k income allowance plus their UC, so the children will receive FSM vouchers if family income is below approx. £18k. So it is not the same criteria and would not cover all those who do not have recourse to public funds.

given the delays in issuing the initial guidance and the fact schools had already set up their own processes, why did DfE decide to go with a single supplier

Surely the school status doesn’t impact on the decision RE summer holidays?

The threshold is not the same. Families who can access public funds earning up to £7,400 can get FSM and they receive Universal Credit as well. This brings their income to 18 - 24K

can we please have the email address for the PPN02/20 enquiries?

Andy needs pressing on this, because Vicky Ford said schools could claim vouchers if the claim hadn’t been finalised, is she wrong?

UC

PPN0220.questions.gov.uk

agree Andy. We need clarification on UFSM too. do we pay all of them

This question is general - to the group. There has been discussion in the press about the role of Vitamin D in preventing respiratory infection and that most people in the UK are vitamin D deficient. The message is just starting to get out. Is there any work being done around raising the issue amongst those working to support families on low incomes and the provision of free Vitamin D to such families?

Schools will need very clear guidance on that Andy, Heads are really nervous that they can't get money back

Is the DfE auditing / monitoring the allocation of vouchers against the number of recorded FSM?

Simplest system would be to refund schools per FSM child

Thanks for answering this question -so are they reimbursing food parcels to ensure an even level playing field??

Please can you confirm whether contractors are expected to pass on funding to food suppliers from the funding they have claimed for UIFSM and FSM to protect them further down the line?

@Virginia - perhaps a link and an extension of Healthy Start vitamins?

but schools have no guarantees that they will get the money back, there are conditions meaning that schools will have to pay from their own budgets, unless Andy is saying different

what is the message for schools when parents don't qualify for benefits but are struggling, should they provide funding. Why aren't schools being advised that they should still support all children on UIFSM.

vitamin D is really important, particularly for those children are shielding who may not have safe access to the sun in gardens.

Great question Anita

We hear from parents that Morrisons will now only issue £10 multiple vouchers and so they are struggling to redeem £15/£45 codes for the local supermarket on our estate & having to use another further afield . We can find no information on this - please can you improve communicate with school on any such changes.

Hi sorry to join late

can that statement and/or guidance about UIFSM be put out to schools and LA's please?

@Milly That’s a great idea about the Healthy Start vitamins, it will really need publicising.

Anita, schools should not be feeding ALL uifsm pupils,

Neil. I still don’t that that’s clear. It’s not ring fenced so could be used for anything. Also Edenred system doesn’t let them go through. we need a clear statement and also should it be backdated. red

That is really helpful - definitely need to get the message out

Public Health England has re-issued existing advice on vitamin D

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/

but the exceptional fund has lots of conditions put on it

Is there the possibility to extend Healthy Start?

Yes the exceptional fund has conditions - so your expecting food parcels and school food to come out of current funding but vouchers are centrally funded so a benefit?

II only got my vouchers this week and we are 5 wks behind

unless I’m mistaken, schools are expected to fund any vouchers they arrange unless they are looking at being in deficit,

there is a risk the school might not be able to claim the cost of any other vouchers back

As most of the usual outlets are closed that issue Healthy start vitamins parents are unable to access them. There are also problesm with gainig Healthy start vouchers if no access to print off a form from NHSwebsite.

@Nicola - yes, great. This information needs sharing more widely. Most members of general public won’t look at the Public Health England

PPN 02/20 does say that if contractors receive payments under the PPN, they should pay their staff and downstream supply chain

very interesting thanks for hosting Steph

@Virginia - absolutely agree!

can all questions not asnwered be put to schools and answered seperately??

yes I agree…very interesting and some great work going on.

Healthy Start Learning NetworkFood Power webinar11:00 – 12:30pm, Tuesday 28 AprilJoin us for a webinar to learn more about the Healthy Start voucher scheme, including an update on upcoming digitisation plans for 2020 as well as case studies from Brighton & Hove and Cambridge on how they've been working to increase take up locally. Speakers will include• Joanne Cheetham, NHS Business Services Authority on plans for the new digital scheme, which will include an online application form, pre-loaded smartcard and updated branding• Emily O'Brien, Brighton & Hove Food Partnership on their bite size training sessions and recent campaign to increase take up• Gemma Birley, Cambridge Sustainable Food on working with health professionals to improve awarenessThe webinar will be recorded so if you cannot attend the live session, please register anyway and you will receive a link to the recording later in the week.Register for the webinar

Thank you - very informative

thank you, great webinar

thank you everyone x

Thank you all, Very interesting.

Thank you excellent webinar

https://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=EE53DA89844C3D

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-children-hungry-immigration-free-school-meals-home-office-a9472396.html

Thanks - great opportunity to be in contact with such a wide audience.

Thank you

Thank you very informative.

https://hackneymigrantcentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Children-with-NRPF-The-need-for-FSM.pdf

Thank you - will be useful to share with colleagues and await further clarification about "grey" areas soon. Stay safe all! :)

Thank you all - Great Webinar

Thank you - great information and lots of questions to take back locally now.

Thank you all.

I've just send in an advisory guide for interim finances for school and caterers for you to adapt/ use. Best Julian.

Thank you, great webinar

thank you everyone - very useful

Thanks Stephanie et al.

Thank you very good

Thanks great presentation

Thank you

Thanks all!

Really good content, thank you to all involved and who took part.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share our passion in making this happen

Very informative and interesting - thanks to all the speakers…

Thanks to SFM, Food Foundation and all speakers.

Thanks all

Thank you

Thankyou - stay safe all!

Thank you!

Thanks so so much!

Thank you

Thank you very useful!