Families miss out on £4.25 a week food vouchers as data is shrouded in mystery

Exclusive:

Charity Feeding Britain has urged the government to release the figures - due over two weeks ago - as soon as possible to show how the overhaul is working of the system

The program can be used to purchase infant formula (

Image: Getty)

Activists tonight are urging ministers to make it clear how many families are missing out on free healthy food for their children.

A shake-up last year saw the removal of paper vouchers worth £4.25 and the introduction of pre-paid cards instead.

Charities feared the move would sideline some parents and make the allowance harder to claim.

They were awaiting figures showing how many families were enrolled in the program up to March last year - including when paper vouchers and prepaid cards could be used.

But the statistics - which were due to be released before the end of last year - have been delayed.

On November 2, Social Affairs Minister Baroness Deborah Stedman-Scott told her peers that the Department for Work and Pensions was working with the Department of Health and Social Care "to make data available by the end of 2022".

The initiative aims to help families provide their children with healthy foods (

Picture:

Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Two days later, Health Minister Neil O'Brien said in response to a written parliamentary question: "The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions to get the data by the end of 2022."

But a message on the NHS Healthy Start website tonight said: "The NHSBSA is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions to provide updated data as soon as possible."

A study carried out last year by the charity Feeding Britain found that out of 449,748 potential beneficiaries, only 231,746 were registered.

Director Andrew Forsey said, "Healthy Start is a great program for families struggling to eat.

“But for the past nine months, the government has been unable to indicate how many families are currently not benefiting from the scheme, despite being eligible.

"One way for Rishi Sunak to achieve his goal of reducing the need for food banks would be to find out who these families are and automatically enroll them in the program.

"It would make an immediate difference to their finances."