Free School Meals

(asked on 29th March 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children in Year 3 and above who will be affected by the new means-tested entitlement for free school meals in households on universal credit with work-related earnings of more than £7,400 a year.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 25th April 2018

Our new criteria for free school meals eligibility will increase the number of children eligible by around 50,000 children by 2022. Due to the generous protections we will provide, all children receiving free school meals at the point the threshold is introduced, and all those who gain eligibility during the rollout of Universal Credit, will continue to receive free school meals until the end of Universal Credit rollout. After this point, those children who were protected – should they still be in school – will continue to be protected until the end of their current phase of education. Our protection arrangements will also cover pupils in receipt of benefits-related free school meals in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, as well as those in Year 3 and above.

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