Gavin Williamson has ignored calls for him to reconsider the decision not to offer free school meals vouchers over the summer holidays.

The education secretary was asked to change his mind in Parliament this afternoon by both his Labour shadow Rebecca Long-Bailey and by the Conservative chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, Robert Halfon.

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Former Tory education secretary Justine Greening made the same plea yesterday.

But Mr Williamson would not address the issue this afternoon, both times he was asked about it.

Mr Halfon spoke of the “financial anxieties [pupils’] families have to face during the current pandemic” and asked whether the government would rethink ending the scheme over the holidays.

However, Mr Williamson did not directly address Mr Halfon’s question.

Replying to Ms Long-Bailey, the education secretary said: “She raises an important point about summer [school] schemes. But I would say we need to lift our eyes higher and be more ambitious. She is right to highlight the fact that there are real challenges that children have suffered as a consequence of this lockdown.

“But to put this right, we need to take a longer approach to how we can support these children over a longer period of time.”

Mr Williamson added: “We are not going to be virtue signalling, we are going to be taking the actions that are going to make a real improvement and a real difference to children’s lives.”

Speaking on the radio yesterday, Ms Greening said: “I think in the short term and the immediate term, one easy decision to take would be to agree that those vouchers that have helped children who are on free schools meals but have been out of school, and made sure that they could stay properly fed, that those are continued through the summer.”