Barnet’s Liberal Democrat group has called on the council to guarantee all children who are entitled to free school meals receive them during the holidays. 

The Lib Dems want Barnet Council to ensure these children have access to food vouchers or meal provision during the October and December school holidays, as well as during any periods of lockdown and school closure. 

It comes after the council made a £50,000 start-up donation to a fund set up to ensure young people do not go hungry during the school holidays and encouraged organisations to apply for the support. 

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford launched a campaign calling on the Government to provide free meals for schoolchildren during the holidays.  

But on October 21, a Labour motion in the House of Commons calling for the free school meals scheme to be extended until Easter 2021 was defeated when 320 Conservative MPs and one independent voted against. 

Lib Dem leader Cllr Gabriel Rozenberg (Garden Suburb) said the responsibility to stop children from going hungry now lay with local authorities. 

Cllr Rozenberg said: “We urge Barnet Council to step up and take action, as Liberal Democrat-run councils across London have already done.” 

The Lib Dems welcomed the money already provided by the council but urged it to go further and ensure full support reaches every eligible child, without the need for further applications or approvals. 

Barnet’s Labour group previously claimed the £50,000 pledged by the council amounted to 39p per child per day over the autumn and winter holidays. Leader Cllr Barry Rawlings (Coppetts) called for the money or vouchers to be given directly to the parents of those children entitled to free school meals – an approach that has been adopted by Enfield and Haringey Councils. 

Cllr Dan Thomas, leader of Barnet Council, said: “We are now halfway through the half-term and it is clear that the extra money that the council put aside is more than enough to support all those asking for help during the school holidays.

“No child should go hungry, and we are making sure that the council is doing what is necessary help those families who need it – giving them the right support over this school holiday and the Christmas break.

“That is why our help is also extending beyond holidays, and beyond those who have access to free school meals – making sure that those who are struggling, whatever their age, have access to the support that they need.”