Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children will be eligible for free school meals as a result of the protections for entitlement under the existing arrangements.

As explained in our consultation paper, we have recently brought forward proposals to update the temporary criteria for free school meals eligibility under universal credit. In setting these new criteria, we are ensuring that the new arrangements are fair, consistent and simple to deliver. The consultation paper is available to view here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/healthy-pupil-unit/fsm/.

Last year, around 1.1 million of the most disadvantaged children were eligible for and claiming a free meal. As a result of our proposed criteria, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.

In addition, we will also provide generous protections to ensure that no child will lose out as a result of these changes up until the end of the rollout of universal credit. This is part of ongoing policy development.