Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the average cost to a school of providing a meal to a child eligible for Universal Infant Free School Meals.

All pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals. The department spends approximately £600 million per year ensuring that around 1.3 million infant pupils receive a nutritious lunchtime meal.

Funding is not ring-fenced, meaning that schools have autonomy over delivery, including entering into contracts with suppliers and allocation of funding within their budgets. The department continues to work closely with the school food industry to monitor sector challenges.

As with all government programmes, including universal infant free school meals, we will keep our approach under continued review.