AQW 13290/22-27

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 12/06/2024
Answered On Date: 26/06/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail the actions he has taken to secure funding to reinstate school holiday meals payments.

Answer:

In the private member's motion on holiday hunger debated in the Assembly on 19 March 2024, I outlined my view that food poverty is an issue that impacts all age groups on every day of the year and therefore holiday hunger for children should be tackled as part of a wider, more holistic solution to tackling food poverty across society.

Reflecting the close links between tackling food poverty (including holiday hunger), social welfare interventions and the Executive's Anti-Poverty Strategy, I have written to the Minister for Communities seeking to discuss how efforts to tackle food poverty experienced by children could align with the work of the Department for Communities on food poverty and the potential role other departments may have to play in trying to address this issue.