Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend universal free school meals to children in (a) Isle of Wight East constituency and (b) other areas of high child poverty.

The government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, having inherited a trend of rising child poverty. That is why the government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. Additionally, the government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, to set children up for the day and ensure they are ready to learn, while supporting parents and carers to work.

The department spends around £1.5 billion annually on free lunches for 2.1 million school pupils under benefits-based free school meals, over 90,000 disadvantaged students in further education, and around 1.3 million infants under universal infant free school meals. On the Isle of Wight, 24.7% benefit from free school meals.