Overview
- The Reform-led East Sussex cabinet stopped issuing school holiday meal vouchers this summer and the council says it redirected support through a £7.3m Crisis Resilience Fund and an expanded Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme.
- Barry Ashley, owner of the Grumpy Cook in Hastings, began offering free meals to children who relied on the vouchers and has reported serving about 70 free meals a day with help from local donations.
- Labour MP Helena Dollimore launched a petition calling for the vouchers to be reinstated and publicly criticised the council’s decision, saying it risks leaving vulnerable children hungry.
- Council leader Andy Woolley has told Ashley and Dollimore he will report them to the police and to the Parliamentary Standards Committee for naming him and says he has faced online abuse, though he had not contacted police at the time of reporting.
- Hastings has high child poverty, about one in three children by local measures, and the dispute raises practical questions about who should deliver holiday food support and the effect of public naming on political debate and personal safety.