Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that children eligible for free school meals under the proposals to extend free school meals on 4 June receive extended school transport.

The government’s overriding priority is to tackle child hunger. 100,000 children will be lifted out of poverty by the end of this Parliament, through the extension of free school meals (FSM) to all households on Universal Credit.

Children who meet the new, higher threshold for FSM from September 2026 will not automatically be entitled to ‘extended rights’ home-to-school travel. Children will continue to be eligible for ‘extended rights’ home-to-school travel if they live in a household with an income below the existing FSM threshold and meet the eligibility criteria relating to the distance between their home and school. Further information about a new mechanism for assessing eligibility for ‘extended rights’ home-to-school travel will be available shortly.