When the Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP rose from the green benches of Parliament on Wednesday, she offered an ‘update on our public finances’. Known as the ‘Spring Statement’, her speech covered long term forecasts about the size of Britain’s economy and also changes to how money is spent by some departments. These changes could be devastating for the families Magic Breakfast works alongside every day.
The Chancellor confirmed reductions of billions in the money the Government spends on supporting those out of work and those with disabilities, many of whom are in work. This will include stricter eligibility checks for Personal Independence Payments and the ending of the health-related element of Universal Credit for those who are under-22. We agree with our friends at the Child Poverty Action Group that this Government is risking ‘being remembered as the Labour administration under whose watch child poverty continued to rise.’ This viewpoint is supported by the Government’s own impact assessment, which suggests their benefits changes could plunge 50,000 children into poverty. This is from a starting point of 30% of children living in poverty, announced by the Government this week.
At Magic Breakfast, we’re concerned regarding the impact that the Chancellor’s decision will have on families from Plymouth to Portree. As Barnardo’s noted in their response, many of these changes will ‘add to the worry facing families already struggling to make ends meet’. If the Government gives with one hand and takes with another it puts at risk the impact of evidence-based policies such as school breakfast provision. The Department for Education cannot help with delivering a meaningful impact upon child poverty rates when other departments are having their hands tied behind their backs.
Our attention must turn back now toward the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. As we noted last week, while this bill will help many primary-aged children, it is far from perfect – and that means too many children will continue to be at risk of starting their day too hungry to learn.
At the same time, the Early Adopter Scheme begins next month as an opportunity for the Government to understand the best way of delivering school breakfasts across England. This needs to be a true test and learn pilot, wherein the government learns exactly what breakfast approaches work, and what don’t. A lot of this will come through the evaluation and data collection processes of the scheme. However, Magic Breakfast already knows a lot of what makes school breakfasts brilliant, and how to ensure it truly reaches children and young people at risk of hunger.
The Chancellor should have remembered in her Spring Statement that an investment in the children of today is an investment in the country of tomorrow. Her Spending Review in June and her budget in Autumn are two more chances to get it right; and we believe Rachel Reeves should take them.
