Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The delivery of free school meals vouchers via Edenred was a particularly stressful and difficult point in the Covid crisis for schools.

“We received hundreds of emails and phone calls from our members saying that the online system for delivering vouchers simply wasn’t working – it was overwhelmed.

“School leaders, and school business leaders in particular, spent hours and hours trying to get the website to work, often staying up until the early hours of the morning to access the system when there was less traffic. This obviously created huge amounts of stress and frustration.

“Although the intentions behind the scheme were good, it is clear that the government’s chosen delivery system was inadequate.”

Press and Media contacts:

Steven George
NAHT Head of Press and Media
01444 472886
07970 907730

Rose Tremlett 
Senior Press Officer 
07545 354363

Email : press.office@naht.org.uk