Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the uptake of free school meals by eligible children.

The department recognises the vital role played by free school meals (FSM) and encourages all eligible families to take their entitlement up. There are currently around 2.1 million pupils eligible for and claiming FSM.

The department provides the Eligibility Checking System, allowing local authorities to quickly verify eligibility for FSM and ensure FSM are easily received.

The department is aware of a range of measures aimed at maximising take up of FSM, including through approaches being trialled by local authorities. We are supportive of local authorities taking action to ensure government support reaches families, subject to them meeting legal and data protection requirements.

The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies, assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty.

As with all government programmes, the department will keep its approach to FSM under continued review.