Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the level of take-up of free school meals of linking that take-up to provision of the pupil premium.

We allocate pupil premium funding every year that a child is claiming a free school meal and for the following 6 years should they cease claiming free school meals, recognising the importance of continuing the additional investment for those that have experienced economic disadvantage.

Evidence proves economic deprivation is strongly consistently linked to under-achievement at school. Pupil eligibility for free school meals in the last 6 years (known as “Ever6 FSM”) remains the best available proxy measure of economic deprivation at individual pupil level.

We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this, we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals, and we provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.

We will continue to look at what the most effective schools do and highlight and disseminate best practice. We are prepared to consider any further steps we can take to improve the take-up of free school meals.