Parents’ anger over distribution of food vouchers by East Dunbartonshire Council during Covid-19 crisis

Residents have claimed they are missing out on vital assistance they are entitled to.

One parent said: “The council give a uniform grant and free school meals to low income families.

“If you earn slightly more you get the meals but not the uniform grant. They have decided to give vouchers for lunches, but only to the ones who get both grants.

“This means if your child was at school they would get lunch, but as they are off at this time of greater financial need they get nothing. They are giving slightly more than the school lunch costs to those getting the meals, but effectively it is those who are being denied that are supporting this as the meals would have been included in the council’s budget.”

Another said the situation was “ridiculous”, adding: “I can’t afford fruit and veg for my children. I’m on benefits and struggle to feed healthy balanced meals. They’re on a frozen food diet with no fruit or veg so my children will end up ill due to this and EDC refuse to help those children.”

Council depute chief executive Ann Davie said: “The most effective way for us to quickly ensure that our food vouchers reached those most in need in our communities was to allocate them to parents/carers that received a School Clothing Grant as we have many more recipients of this grant across the area than free school meals.

“We are aware that there were a small number of pupils in receipt of free school meals but not School Clothing Grants and also a further small number of nursery age children in receipt of free early years meals. We are also issuing food vouchers directly to those families.

“Across East Dunbartonshire a total of 2,244 vouchers of £20/week have been issued/are being issued, and these are automatically topped up, by £20 on a Monday, every week.

“We have updated our application process and aligned the qualifying criteria for Free School Meal/Clothing Grant and Early Years Free Meal entitlement. Applications can now be made online, with the supporting evidence of eligibility uploaded with the application. While schools remain closed, once eligibility has been verified, a food voucher will be provided to all eligible applicants.

“Our teams are working hard to ensure that these vouchers get to the people who need them most.”

Ms Davie also encourages anyone who qualifies for this support but has not yet replied, or anyone whose circumstances have changed due to the epidemic, to check the website for advice:

https://www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk/residents/council-democracy/covid-19-food-vouchers

Neil McGrory , Local Democracy Reporting Service