CUMBERLAND Council deputy leader Lisa Brown has pledged that the new council will work to provide free school meals for every school age child in the authority – saying that the new budget is the start of a path to ‘tackle inequalities’ in Cumberland.

At a meeting held yesterday, March 1, the full council approved a budget which included an aspiration from the leader to work with council officers to deliver a programme that will see every child in the new Cumberland authority provided with a free meal at school.

Speaking on the budget, Councillor Lisa Brown said: "The headlines today across Cumberland will be about this budget and comments on its merits will vary, but nationally the headlines today are the number of UK children in food poverty nearly doubled in a year to 4million.

“That's one in five households across our wards with hungry children.

"This council has committed to being the first line of defence for our most vulnerable residents, and after 13 years of decimation of local government funding by central government, this budget allows us to be that.

“It's the financial expression of the Cumberland Plan and as we move on in the year we'll work towards embedding community wealth building in our policies.

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“This budget starts us on our path to tackle inequalities and where we will start today is our aspiration to work with officers to start providing a programme of free school meals for every child across Cumberland, to ensure we tackle the national scandal that hit the headlines today by being that first line of defence and do our part to make sure no child in Cumberland goes hungry."

The deputy leader's announcement was met with applause from councillors in the chamber at the Civic Centre in Carlisle.

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The budget is a key milestone in the framework of the new Cumberland Council which will come into force on vesting day, April 1.

Councillors on all sides of the political divide acknowledged the council's work (both that of officers and councillors) on what has been a 'difficult task' for the new Cumberland authority to take on in such a short space of time.