Free School Meals

(asked on 5th September 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of research from the Child Poverty Action Group that 900,000 children in England were living in poverty without access to free school meals; if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of free school meal provision; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 11th September 2023

The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments in providing support. The Department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review, ensuring that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the Department believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.

Since 2010, the number of pupils receiving FSM has increased by more than two million. This increase in provision is due to the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals and protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM, compared with one in six in 2010.

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