Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes to tax credits on the number of children able to access free school meals.

The government’s changes to tax credits will have no effect on the number of children accessing free school meals (FSM) in England. All households receiving out-of-work benefits continue to be entitled to FSM, while changes to Child Tax Credit will have no impact. The number of children growing up in workless households has decreased by 480,000 since 2010, a record low. This has led to the number of households claiming FSM decreasing and we expect this to continue as the economy continues to improve.