Recommendation 12

The Department told us that the vast majority of families had easy access to participating retailers but acknowledged that, at the outset of the scheme, there were some families further from stores than it wanted. It said that it sought to have as many people as close as possible to branches of participating supermarkets. It carried out analysis with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to make sure there was at least one participating retailer in each local authority area. However, it acknowledged that local authorities varied hugely in size.20 The Department did not analyse the distances parents would have needed to travel to stores or how long it would have taken using available means of transport.21 It told us that it sought, with Edenred, to add more supermarket chains during the course of the scheme, and to make sure schools had other choices if the nearest participating store was a long way away.22