Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the entitlement to pupil premium funding so that all children under a Special Guardianship Order are able to access Free School Meals.

Children who have left care through a special guardianship order are eligible for pupil premium plus funding (for previously looked-after children) of £2,300. This is unrelated to eligibility for free school meals (FSMs).

To be eligible to receive FSMs, a pupil or their parent must be in receipt of any one of the following listed benefits and must make a claim to the school for FSMs:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act (1999)
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit (WTC) and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• WTC run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for WTC
• Universal Credit - if you applied on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you receive).