Conservative Cllr Paula Hiscocks has urged the county council to reinstate holiday supermarket vouchers for families eligible for free school meals for the upcoming February half-term.

For almost five years, the county council issued supermarket vouchers to struggling families during each school holiday, using funding allocated to the county through the Household Support Fund (HSF).

But this year (202526) the council's allocation from the HSF – which will be replaced by the Crisis Resilience Fund from April – was 12% lower than in previous years.

And as a result, in September, councillors agreed that supermarket vouchers would not be issued in the October or February half-terms, with no plans to continue the current voucher scheme in future.

At the meeting of the children's social care cabinet panel on Wednesday (January 21), Cllr Hiscocks said that cutting vouchers during the October and February half-terms had been "the wrong decision".

And she called for the vouchers to be reinstated for the upcoming February school holiday.

"These children have no voice, and therefore it is for us to speak up for them," she told councillors.

"If there is no money for food during term times, hence the 'free school meals', how can families find that money during half-term?

"We are asking if at least we can reinstate these vouchers for this February half-term."

At the meeting, councillors were told that, going forward, the new Crisis Resilience Fund cannot be used for "the blanket issue of holiday food vouchers" for those families eligible for free school meals.

And the advice from Government is that authorities now need to consider how to best support the "poorest and most in need households".

Director of children's services Jo Fisher told councillors that officials were already looking at ways to target access to the vouchers for those who are in crisis.

But she said that if there were to be a blanket voucher scheme, it would be funded by the council.

Cllr Hiscocks had asked that the vouchers continue to be issued by the county council for all holiday periods, including half-terms.

And, in response, executive member for children's social care, Cllr Anthony Rowlands, later said that the Conservatives could suggest how that could be paid for at the upcoming budget meeting.

Ultimately, it was agreed that a report regarding the plan for the new Crisis Resilience Fund would be considered at a future meeting.

And it was agreed that the report would include a discussion and explanation as to whether or not half-term vouchers were included.

During the debate, Labour Cllr Nigel Bell acknowledged that the new guidance may not permit the blanket provision of vouchers – and that not all families in receipt of 'free school meals' may need crisis support every school holiday.

And he said that, with this change, it was good that officers would know the best way to help and target support for low-income families "facing financial shocks".

Cllr Kirsty Taylor-Moran (Green) suggested that she saw the voucher scheme as a "sticking plaster".

"It's sickening to think about children going without," she said.

"But I don't know if having a supermarket voucher was enough to fix that in the first place."

Nevertheless, she said that if it was effective, she would advocate for it to be continued.

The council's children's social care cabinet panel met on Wednesday (January 21).