Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total amount of public funding for free school meals in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2023-24.

Local authorities receive their core funding for schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

Since 2018/19, the DSG allocations have been calculated based on the national funding formula (NFF). The schools NFF includes a ’free school meal (FSM) factor’ which is broadly intended to cover the cost of providing free meals for eligible pupils. In 2023/24, schools received £480 for each eligible primary and secondary pupil through this factor. A total of £842 million was distributed through the FSM factor in financial year 2023/24.

In addition to the FSM factor in the NFF, the department also provides additional funding for free meals through the universal infant free school meal (UIFSM) grant. This grant enables all government funded schools to offer FSM to pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2. In the 2023/24 academic year, £626 million was allocated through the UIFSM.

The equivalent figures are not available for 2009/10. Prior to the introduction of the NFF in 2018/19, the DSG was calculated in a different way, without a separate ‘FSM factor’. UIFSM was introduced in 2014.