Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department has made a recent assessment of the potential (a) economic, (b) health and (c) educational benefits of extending eligibility for free school meals.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government has extended Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. Around 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-related FSM. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy. Taken together, over one third of pupils are receiving free meals.
The department invests over £1 billion in support of these policies. Schools are currently funded at £480 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the National Funding Formula. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25. For UIFSM, schools receive £2.53 per meal per child. This was uplifted from £2.41 for the current academic year. Further Education institutions have received the same uplift.
In setting an income threshold for FSM, the government’s judgement is that the current level enables the most disadvantaged children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools and the taxpayer. It is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work, or those on the lowest incomes. The department does not have any plans to further extend provision at this time. The department will keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department facilitates this by working with other government departments to monitor the cost of living and impact on disadvantaged families and considering a wide range of evidence, including findings produced by the Child Poverty Action Group. In addition to this, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders including school leaders, pupils and catering organisations.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help tackle cost pressures on (a) parents and (b) schools who are paying to provide school meals.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government has extended Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. Around 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-related FSM. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy. Taken together, over one third of pupils are receiving free meals.
The department invests over £1 billion in support of these policies. Schools are currently funded at £480 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the National Funding Formula. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25. For UIFSM, schools receive £2.53 per meal per child. This was uplifted from £2.41 for the current academic year. Further Education institutions have received the same uplift.
In setting an income threshold for FSM, the government’s judgement is that the current level enables the most disadvantaged children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools and the taxpayer. It is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work, or those on the lowest incomes. The department does not have any plans to further extend provision at this time. The department will keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department facilitates this by working with other government departments to monitor the cost of living and impact on disadvantaged families and considering a wide range of evidence, including findings produced by the Child Poverty Action Group. In addition to this, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders including school leaders, pupils and catering organisations.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on free school meals of the briefing by the Child Poverty Action Group entitled Free school meals: third of kids in poverty miss out, published in July 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government has extended Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. Around 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-related FSM. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy. Taken together, over one third of pupils are receiving free meals.
The department invests over £1 billion in support of these policies. Schools are currently funded at £480 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the National Funding Formula. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25. For UIFSM, schools receive £2.53 per meal per child. This was uplifted from £2.41 for the current academic year. Further Education institutions have received the same uplift.
In setting an income threshold for FSM, the government’s judgement is that the current level enables the most disadvantaged children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools and the taxpayer. It is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work, or those on the lowest incomes. The department does not have any plans to further extend provision at this time. The department will keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department facilitates this by working with other government departments to monitor the cost of living and impact on disadvantaged families and considering a wide range of evidence, including findings produced by the Child Poverty Action Group. In addition to this, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders including school leaders, pupils and catering organisations.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 14 June 2023 to Question 187978 on Free School Meals, how her Department keeps eligibility for free school meals under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government has extended Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. Around 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-related FSM. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy. Taken together, over one third of pupils are receiving free meals.
The department invests over £1 billion in support of these policies. Schools are currently funded at £480 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the National Funding Formula. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25. For UIFSM, schools receive £2.53 per meal per child. This was uplifted from £2.41 for the current academic year. Further Education institutions have received the same uplift.
In setting an income threshold for FSM, the government’s judgement is that the current level enables the most disadvantaged children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools and the taxpayer. It is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work, or those on the lowest incomes. The department does not have any plans to further extend provision at this time. The department will keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department facilitates this by working with other government departments to monitor the cost of living and impact on disadvantaged families and considering a wide range of evidence, including findings produced by the Child Poverty Action Group. In addition to this, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders including school leaders, pupils and catering organisations.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will raise the threshold for receipt of free school meals.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government has extended Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. Around 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-related FSM. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy. Taken together, over one third of pupils are receiving free meals.
The department invests over £1 billion in support of these policies. Schools are currently funded at £480 per eligible pupil per year as a factor value within the National Funding Formula. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25. For UIFSM, schools receive £2.53 per meal per child. This was uplifted from £2.41 for the current academic year. Further Education institutions have received the same uplift.
In setting an income threshold for FSM, the government’s judgement is that the current level enables the most disadvantaged children to benefit while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools and the taxpayer. It is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work, or those on the lowest incomes. The department does not have any plans to further extend provision at this time. The department will keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The department facilitates this by working with other government departments to monitor the cost of living and impact on disadvantaged families and considering a wide range of evidence, including findings produced by the Child Poverty Action Group. In addition to this, the department regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders including school leaders, pupils and catering organisations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December, and its conclusion that of the 39 OECD and EU countries featured in the report, the UK has seen the largest increase in child poverty since 2014.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent available data, covering 2021/22 shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.
The most recent available OECD data shows that the United Kingdom has a relative poverty rate for 0–17-year-olds comparable to large European countries such as France and Germany and below Australia, the United States and Italy.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.
Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have commissioned into the economic impact of transport poverty for young people aged 16 to 24.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is taking action to ensure young people can access work, education and apprenticeship opportunities, regardless of where they live. We have consistently invested in public transport to help make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
In 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver Railcard, extending the 50 per cent discount available to children for rail travel to their entire period of compulsory education and training. For students aged 18 and above, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel. In October, we announced that the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London would be extended until the end of 2024. Through the Plan for Drivers, we have also announced measures to help tackle the cost of driving.
We are committed to meeting the obligations of the Public Sector Equality Duty, including giving due consideration to the needs of different age cohorts.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report entitled Emergency food parcel distribution in the UK: April– September 2023 published by the Trussell Trust on 8 November 2023 which noted that 46% of all food parcels provided by the Trust’s food banks are for families with three or more children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children. From April 2023, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1% and, subject to Parliamentary approval, working-age benefits will rise by 6.7% from April 2024, in line with inflation.
With over 900 thousand job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work. This approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. In 2021/22 children living in workless households were 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty, after housing costs, than those where all adults work.
To help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.
To further support parents into work, on 28th June 2023, the maximum monthly amounts that a parent can be reimbursed for their childcare increased by 47%, from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively. Importantly, we can now also provide even more help with upfront childcare costs when parents move into work or increase their hours. In addition, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.
This government understands the pressures people, including parents, are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of £104bn over 2022-25 to help households and individuals.
In the financial year 2023/24, this has included Cost of Living payments totalling up to £900 for households on eligible means-tested benefits, a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment for people on eligible ‘extra cost’ disability benefits; and, for pensioner households, an additional £300 Cost of Living payment paid as a top up to the winter fuel payment.
The Household Support Fund is running throughout the financial year 2023/24. This enables Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the cost of essentials.
Further, from April 2024, to support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the government will raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents for private renters. This will benefit 1.6m low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential correlation between the (a) proportion of children living in households affected by the two-child limit and (b) levels of child poverty.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.
From April 2023, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1% and, subject to Parliamentary approval, working-age benefits will rise by 6.7% from April 2024, in line with inflation.
Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that parents in work, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around five times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
In 2021/22 there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, including 400,000 fewer children.
No such assessment of the potential correlation between the proportion of children living in households affected by the two-child limit and levels of child poverty has been made.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Statement 2023 on levels of poverty among benefit claimants.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are providing support to households to help with the high cost of living worth £104 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25. This includes, subject to Parliamentary approval, raising working age benefits by 6.7% and State pensions by 8.5% from April next year on top of this year’s 10.1% uprating for all State pensions and benefits.
To support low-income households with increasing rent costs, the government will also raise Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents for private renters from April 2024. This will benefit 1.6m low-income households by on average £800 a year in 24/25.
We are also, from April, increasing the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.
We estimate that in 2024/5 around 20 million families will benefit from the uprating of DWP and HMRC benefits in Great Britain. This will include around 8 million pensioner and around 11 million working age families and around 1 million mixed age couples.
In 2024/25, around 5.5 million Universal Credit families are forecast to benefit from uprating with an average annual gain for a family on Universal Credit estimated to be £470 (equivalent to an increase of around £39 per month), however gains will vary depending on the elements received by different family types. An assessment of the benefit uprating policy has been published here.
On average, households in the poorest income deciles are gaining the most in cash terms and as a percentage of net income in 2023-24 as a result of government policies announced at Autumn Statement 2022. This Government has overseen significant falls in absolute poverty since 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, including 400,000 fewer children and 1 million fewer working age adults.