Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what analysis his Department has conducted with the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on procedural changes in flagging eligibility for pupil premium by local authority area.

Eligibility for the pupil premium is based on pupils recorded in the January census who are known to have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) now or at any point in the last 6 years (known as FSM EVER6).

Following the change to FSM eligibility criteria under Universal Credit, which came into effect in April 2018, we estimate that by 2022, more children will benefit from an FSM and therefore pupil premium compared to the previous benefits system.

As Universal Credit continues to roll out, we will keep the delivery of the pupil premium policy under review, working closely with other government departments.