Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost of (a) one school meal and (b) a year's worth of school meals was in each of the last ten years.

The department does not set a price for school meals whether paid for or free.

School governing boards are responsible for the provision of both free and paid for meals and it is for them to decide on the price depending on local circumstances. The department knows that many factors influence the costs of school meals including, for example, catering arrangements, food prices and existing numbers of pupils taking up school meals.

Through the schools national funding formula, the department allocates £460 of funding to local authorities for each of the pupils in their area eligible for free school meals. Local authorities then distribute this money to schools through their local funding formula, which must include additional funding for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as those eligible for free school meals. This allocation will increase to £470 per eligible pupil as part of the overall increase to the core schools budget for the 2022-23 financial year.

It is then for schools to decide how to use their budget, including how much to allocate to pay for benefits-based free school meals.