Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge is among those urging Labour to do more to combat food insecurity as part of its forthcoming child poverty strategy.
Tom and the other campaigners said a programme designed to assist families with young children in purchasing nutritious food is currently falling short and requires reform to encompass more individuals in need.
The Healthy Start scheme, operational in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, caters to expectant mothers over 10 weeks into their pregnancy or families with children under four receiving specific benefits.
The initiative facilitates the purchase of healthy foods like milk and fruits and provides free vitamins.
Labour’s child poverty task force, in collaboration with the devolved governments, is set to unveil its strategy in the spring.
Lending his voice to the cause as a signatory, Kerridge, 51, said: “It is unacceptable that in a country like the UK we still have such a high number of households with children suffering from food insecurity.”
Kerridge underscored the critical importance of proper nutrition for children, stating: “We know how important it is for children to eat properly so they can grow up and thrive.
“The Government’s Healthy Start scheme has the potential to help but is currently not reaching the people who need it most. Improvements to the scheme need to be urgently included in the Government’s upcoming Child Poverty Strategy.”
Signed by representatives from various charitable organisations and medical bodies, the letter addressed to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, stressed the necessity for “urgent improvements” to the Healthy Start scheme.
In an impassioned plea coordinated by The Food Foundation, experts are calling on the Government to widen access to nutritional support by including all families on Universal Credit and to extend the range to children under five.
They also advocate for an inflation-aligned increase in the value of aid provided and favour an auto-enrolment system to replace the current “opt-in” approach, which is seen as a barrier that deters families from seeking aid.
The campaigners said: “Through weekly payments for food and multivitamin supplements, the scheme has huge potential to help families at risk of food insecurity.
“Sadly however, the scheme has been much neglected in recent years. Urgent improvements are therefore needed to prevent malnutrition and give children the best possible start in life.”
Highlighting a stark divide laid bare by The Food Foundation’s research from last year, food insecurity concerns were found to be prevalent in nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of UK households with children. This rate contrasts sharply with 11.7 percent of households without children experiencing similar challenges.
