Free School Meals

(asked on 13th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage all schools to routinely offer every child eligible for free school meals attending school a hot meal each school day during the covid-19 lockdown that has been in place since 5 January 2021.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 22nd January 2021

Guidance has been published for schools providing meals during the period of national lockdown and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.

Schools should provide meal options for all pupils who are in school, including vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. Meals should be available free of charge to all infant pupils and pupils who meet the benefits-related free school meals eligibility criteria.

The government will continue to provide schools with their expected funding for benefits-related free school meals and universal infant free school meals throughout this period.

I wrote to schools in October encouraging them to make sure hot meals were provided. They should speak to their catering team or provider about the best arrangements for providing meals for those pupils in school. Schools have the freedom to decide on the best approach for their pupils and have a range of options which include lunch parcels, local vouchers or the department’s national voucher scheme. All meals provided in school must still comply with the school food standards: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england.

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