Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities in England have implemented auto-enrolment for free school meals.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not hold information on which local authorities in England have implemented auto‑enrolment for free school meals. Local authorities are responsible for managing their own processes for identifying eligible children.
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. Introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals so that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026 will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, pulling 100,000 children out of poverty.
We are also rolling out improvements to the Eligibility Checking System, making it easier for local authorities, schools and parents to check if children are eligible for free meals.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of measures to reduce child poverty on children in Washington and Gateshead South constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the total impact on low income poverty levels, and the number of children gaining, from the main changes included in the strategy for the United Kingdom as a whole are available here: Child Poverty Strategy: Impact on low income poverty levels and children gaining in the UK: December 2025 - GOV.UK. Across the United Kingdom, the measures set out in the strategy are expected to reduce the number of children in poverty by 550,000 in the final year of this Parliament, compared to our estimates without these measures.
Estimates for the number of children and households that are expected to gain from the removal of two-child limit policy at constituency level are available here: Poverty impacts of social security changes at Budget 2025 - GOV.UK. The number of children who are expected to gain from the removal of the two-child limit policy in the Washington and Gateshead South constituency is 2,620.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help people with food prices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is taking forward a range of actions to help address food prices by tackling the underlying drivers of cost and supporting access to affordable food.
The department is working closely with the Department for Business and Trade to assess how regulation affects food businesses and food prices, through the Food Inflation Gateway. This work is helping to identify where burdens can be reduced or sequenced more effectively. Alongside this, through the Good Food Cycle, Defra set out priority outcomes focused on improving access to healthy, affordable food and strengthening local food systems.
More broadly, the Government is providing targeted support to help households manage food costs. From April, the value of Healthy Start will rise by 10% to provide greater support for pregnant women and young children, alongside work with retailers to expand access to healthy, affordable food. Free School Meals will be extended to around half a million additional pupils, saving families up to £495 per child annually and lifting approximately 100,000 children out of relative poverty. The Holiday Activity and Food Programme will also continue with £600 million in funding.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of food poverty over the last 12 months.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
We published the Good Food Cycle in July which identified ten priority outcomes needed to build a thriving food sector while tackling a range of food related challenges. Improving food price affordability and access, in particular targeting costs that lead to food price inflation and supporting those who most need access to healthy affordable nutrition, is a key priority.
From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. This fund aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels. The Crisis and Resilience Fund Guidance for local authorities was published on 13 January 2026, enabling local authorities to prepare for delivery in line with the new fund.
The removal of the two child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty across the United Kingdom, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our Strategy, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
The most recent official statistics show for the United Kingdom, in 2023/24, 7.5m individuals lived in food insecure households. The rate is unchanged on 2022/23 but the total number of individuals living in food insecure households has increased by 300,000.
The most recent official statistics show for the United Kingdom, in 2023/24, 2.8m people, were living in households where a food bank has been used in the 12 months prior to the interview, up by 500,000 since 2022/23.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delays by the Child Maintenance Service on (a) parents and (b) children who rely on child maintenance payments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know that children in separated families are more likely to live in poverty than those in non-separated families. Child maintenance payments through both statutory and non-statutory arrangements keep approximately 120,000 children out of poverty each year.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) works hard to make sure parents pay in full and on time to minimise delays in payments.
Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the CMS will not hesitate to use the range enforcement powers available. The CMS is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families. CMS has implemented significant improvements to speed up action when payments first break down, targeting enforcement actions more effectively.
CMS undertake regular quality assurance checks to ensure processes are delivered accurately, reducing the requirement for rework and reinforcing our aim to ‘get it right first time’. These measures demonstrate our commitment to minimising delays and ensuring that child maintenance reaches children promptly.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on projected child nutrition needs in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency associated with interventions in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and its commitment to raising the healthiest generation of children in history. We know that poverty can have a long-lasting impact on children’s health. In the ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, the Government reaffirmed our commitment to strengthen the support available for families to address their health needs. For example, we have committed to supporting those who need access to healthy, affordable nutrition by increasing the value of Healthy Start by 10% and setting out measures to give parents and carers the confidence to choose lower priced infant formula and to make infant formula more affordable.
The assessment of the health needs of a local population is the responsibility of local authorities through a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. These assessments are funded through the Public Health Grant. In Buckingham and Bletchley, Buckinghamshire County Council and Milton Keynes City Council provide these assessments, with further information available at the following link:
https://miltonkeynes.jsna.uk/jsna/children-young-people/
Child health data, including obesity and physical activity, is held on Fingertips at national, regional, and local levels in England. Data from the National Child Measurement Programme can serve as proxy measures of nutritional status. Aggregated data on obesity and overweight prevalence is not available at Parliamentary constituency level but is available at ward and local authority levels. The following table shows the percentage of obesity, including severe obesity, and the prevalence of overweight, including obesity, within each ward in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency, from 2022/23 to 2024/25:
Ward name | Percentage of obesity (%) including severe obesity 2022/23 to 2024/25 | Prevalence of overweight (%) including obesity 2022/23 to 2024/25 | ||
Reception aged 4 to 5 years old | Year 6 aged 10 to 11 years old | Reception aged 4 to 5 years old | Year 6 aged 10 to 11 years old | |
Bletchley East | 11.8 | 26.5 | 24.7 | 38.8 |
Bletchley West | 11.5 | 25.5 | 27.1 | 38.7 |
Bletchley Park | 13.5 | 27.5 | 27.9 | 40.4 |
Buckingham West | 7.4 | 16.5 | 21.0 | 29.9 |
Buckingham East | 6.3 | 15.8 | 18.8 | 26.3 |
Great Brickhill | 9.1 | 14.1 | 21.2 | 28.2 |
Tattenhoe | 5.8 | 16.9 | 15.5 | 28.2 |
Winslow | 10.4 | 14.3 | 22.9 | 25.0 |
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the additional public health support needs of families in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency targeted by the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and its commitment to raising the healthiest generation of children in history. We know that poverty can have a long-lasting impact on children’s health. In the ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, the Government reaffirmed our commitment to strengthen the support available for families to address their health needs. For example, we have committed to supporting those who need access to healthy, affordable nutrition by increasing the value of Healthy Start by 10% and setting out measures to give parents and carers the confidence to choose lower priced infant formula and to make infant formula more affordable.
The assessment of the health needs of a local population is the responsibility of local authorities through a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. These assessments are funded through the Public Health Grant. In Buckingham and Bletchley, Buckinghamshire County Council and Milton Keynes City Council provide these assessments, with further information available at the following link:
https://miltonkeynes.jsna.uk/jsna/children-young-people/
Child health data, including obesity and physical activity, is held on Fingertips at national, regional, and local levels in England. Data from the National Child Measurement Programme can serve as proxy measures of nutritional status. Aggregated data on obesity and overweight prevalence is not available at Parliamentary constituency level but is available at ward and local authority levels. The following table shows the percentage of obesity, including severe obesity, and the prevalence of overweight, including obesity, within each ward in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency, from 2022/23 to 2024/25:
Ward name | Percentage of obesity (%) including severe obesity 2022/23 to 2024/25 | Prevalence of overweight (%) including obesity 2022/23 to 2024/25 | ||
Reception aged 4 to 5 years old | Year 6 aged 10 to 11 years old | Reception aged 4 to 5 years old | Year 6 aged 10 to 11 years old | |
Bletchley East | 11.8 | 26.5 | 24.7 | 38.8 |
Bletchley West | 11.5 | 25.5 | 27.1 | 38.7 |
Bletchley Park | 13.5 | 27.5 | 27.9 | 40.4 |
Buckingham West | 7.4 | 16.5 | 21.0 | 29.9 |
Buckingham East | 6.3 | 15.8 | 18.8 | 26.3 |
Great Brickhill | 9.1 | 14.1 | 21.2 | 28.2 |
Tattenhoe | 5.8 | 16.9 | 15.5 | 28.2 |
Winslow | 10.4 | 14.3 | 22.9 | 25.0 |
Asked by: Elaine Stewart (Labour - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle child poverty in Scotland.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
Poverty scars the lives and life chances of our children.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the very best start in life.
In December, we set out our ambitious and comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy. It sets out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty in the short-term, as well as putting in place the building blocks we need to create long-term change across the UK. Our decision to lift the two-child cap alone will benefit 95,000 Scottish children.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what weight is given to the level of (a) private rented sector rents and (b) council tax in the statistical determination of child poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK's headline child poverty statistics are provided via the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK. Children are defined as being in income-based poverty if the net income of their household is below 60% of median household income. Household incomes are adjusted by a process called equivalisation so that different household sizes and compositions can be compared.
Council tax liability is subtracted in full from household income in a similar way to other taxes when calculating income before housing costs (BHC). Private rented sector rents are then subtracted in full from BHC income to calculate income after housing costs (AHC). The headline income-based measure of poverty is relative low income after housing costs (AHC) i.e. a child is in relative poverty AHC if the AHC income of their household is below 60% of the median for the year in question.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children whose families are subject to No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions are living in poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold this data.
We recognise the distinct challenges faced by those subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition and have engaged with organisations who have made representations on behalf of children subject to NRPF and will continue to do so. As part of the Child Poverty Strategy, the Department is working with the Home Office to develop questions on NRPF for inclusion in the Family Resources Survey 2026/2027, with the data first published in March 2028. This is a household survey undertaken annually to explore living standards in the UK.