Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in the Tees Valley region were eligible for free school meals in 2023/24 and in 2025/26; how many are expected to be eligible in 2026/27; and what the estimated total value of support provided through free school meals and associated programmes in the Tees Valley will be in 2026/27 compared with 2023/24.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, including in the Tees Valley region. This will ensure an additional half a million children across the country will receive a healthy, nutritious meal, putting £500 back in families’ pockets and lifting 100,000 children out of poverty.

The department publishes data on eligibility for FSM. Regional data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2025-26. In 2025/26, 37,752 children are eligible in the 5 local authority areas within Tees Valley. Following the expansion of FSM to all on Universal Credit from September 2026, the department expects approximately 51,000 children to be eligible based on data from the Department for Work and Pensions.

We are also improving the eligibility checking system to support schools and local authorities to identify and enrol eligible pupils more efficiently. Schools receive funding for FSM as part of their overall core funding. Additional funding for FSM expansion will be provided through the expansion of the grant.

At a national level, we have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multi-year spending review period to cover additional meal costs.