Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure disadvantaged children in early years settings have access to healthy, nutritious meals.

The department is committed to giving every child the best possible start in life. Good nutrition in the early years is essential for children’s health and long-term development, which is why we recently introduced new nutrition guidance in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework.

The new guidance, developed in collaboration with nutrition experts and sector representatives, will help early years providers understand how to meet the existing EYFS requirements.

Pupils attending a local authority, maintained, academy or free school nursery are entitled to free school meals (FSM), as long as they are either in full-time education or receive education both before and after lunch and meet the benefits-based FSM eligibility criteria.

From September 2026, the department will extend FSM to all children in households receiving Universal Credit, including those in state-funded school-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools.