The Welsh Government have not covered themselves in glory on the issue of free school meals in the past year, and provision has been ad hoc, without a clear enough path of leadership. Since the start of the pandemic, my team have campaigned to ensure that children in South Wales West are given parity of access to the free school meal allowance, and all but three local authorities across Wales have opted to provide cash or vouchers to the value of £19.50 to cover five breakfasts and lunches. This is the right approach.

In Wales, a very small number of authorities have continued to stick with a parcel delivery service, such as Bridgend, justifying this in a number of ways that have not been supported by other authorities here in Wales. In England, as we all know, there was, rightly, an outcry about the variance of quality and value for money of food parcels, which led to a Government response to ensure access to cash or vouchers. In Wales, this was not the case. 

Over the past year, we have shared images of food parcel deliveries and the varying levels of quality. There's been particular criticism of the parcels being delivered to families in Bridgend from the Bristol-based supplier, The Real Wrap Company. Money is being profited on the back of poverty and hunger, as these parcels, on average, amount to £10 or £11 when compared to a supermarket purchase price. In response to my letter outlining my concerns, the Minister for Education referenced images of food being delivered to families in Caerphilly and compared those to those being delivered in England. Well, here is an image of a food parcel that has been sent out to those in Bridgend. An image not included in the correspondence from the education Minister. I wonder why that is. It doesn't suit their spin, because it simply isn't good enough. Surely, parents are better placed to shop for their families and meet their child's nutritional needs within the budget of cash or vouchers.

These packages don't either reflect the diversity of food that families may choose to cook with, or reflect varying dietary requirements. Or how about at least giving people the option available to them? The fact is, Welsh Government should have mandated cash or vouchers being an option for all in Wales from the very beginning. Welsh Government advise local authorities to use a number of systems in parallel, however, the Labour-led council in Bridgend have committed to food parcels as their only option. In the meantime, I have seen many Labour councillors, MSs and MPs berating the UK Government on social media for the way they are treating children in poverty in England, when Bridgend are offering the same thing. Families have told us that they are being treated like children, handed individual portions of jam to feed their children, and, on occasion, even out-of-date fruit and vegetables, as you can see from this picture here: out-of-date oranges.

Responses from the local authority have impacted the mental health of constituents. The stereotyping of families in poverty as neglectful must stop. One councillor even suggested to me that they didn't want to introduce vouchers or money in case the parents didn't actually spend the money on food. Are they that disrespectful of the intentions of parents that they wouldn't spend the money or vouchers on food for their own children?

Almost a quarter of Wales is living in poverty, and research from the Child Poverty Action Group has shown that, of the four nations in the UK, Wales has the least generous provision of free school meals. This debate is no political stunt. What we have is a first-world country where children are going hungry, and a Government that have the power to make sure all children are fed, but are not using that power. We need to ensure that this issue is dealt with for the future benefit of all our children. Diolch yn fawr iawn.