Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to measure the actual costs for the schools participating in the existing National School Breakfast programme.

The national school breakfast programme (NSBP) is a demand-led programme, established under the previous government. It is a food-only programme which does not include staffing costs. Eligible schools place breakfast food orders with the department’s supplier, Family Action, via their portal, rather than being allocated funding directly. Schools are charged 25% of food and delivery costs by the supplier, with the department covering the remaining 75% of the costs. Schools can therefore order as much food as they need on the system.

The department works closely with Family Action to monitor take-up of the programme by eligible schools, alongside monitoring school-level food and delivery costs. The number of schools on the scheme is relatively stable.