Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the income thresholds for eligibility for free school meals.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty, that is why the department is introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals. This ensures that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible from September 2026. This change will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back into families’ pockets.