Across the country, a third of poorer families are missing out on free food vouchers - In Northamptonshire nearly half are doing so.

Women who are at least 10 weeks pregnant or who have a child under the age of four can get vouchers worth £3.10 a week to spend on fruit, vegetables milk and other foods at participating stores. Any woman who receives benefits such as income support or jobseeker’s allowance, or who lives in a home where someone does can make a claim for the vouchers.

The vouchers were brought in UK-wide in 2006 by Labour in an effort to improve the diets of poorer families and narrow the nutritional gap between rich and poor. However, the scheme is poorly promoted and so lots of families are missing out.

There is plenty of research to show the benefits of the scheme in not only addressing food poverty but also helping develop good eating habits in young children whose families get the vouchers and improving the health of pregnant women and new mothers.

The scheme is a national one, but families in our county are missing out a lot more than other parts of the country and there are several reasons for this.

With spending on public health in the county in turmoil following the double bankruptcy of the Conservative County council and with audit questions on the use of public health funds in the Council there simply has not been the leadership in the County to address the low take up as a priority. We have a Tory council, busy raising Council tax to the maximum and balancing budgets to address structural deficits but without the time or consideration to see how the lives of the poorest families in our county can be improved at little cost to the council.

In addition to this, little is done to ensure a choice of retailers willing to accept the vouchers. There is an online process of registering as a retailer in order that they can claim back the money. In Tower Hamlets, the local council is promoting local market stalls as retailers accepting vouchers stating that the food is cheaper and fresher than in supermarkets. In this way the Council is not only promoting access to free nutritious food to low income families but is also promoting local businesses and entrepreneurs in the town. 

In some parts of the town (Kingsley front) the only retailers that accept the vouchers are ones that have closed down. With assistance from the Kingsley Park and Links View Residents Association a number of independent retailers in the area have been approached to encourage them to register to the scheme.