Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the £2.61 meal rate paid to Oxfordshire schools for providing universal infant free school meals, taking into account rising (a) food, (b) energy and (c) staff costs.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We spend around £600 million per year ensuring close to 1.3 million additional infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014.
The department has not made a formal assessment of UIFSM funding for Oxfordshire schools, but we meet regularly with the sector, including school food caterers, and draw on these insights to inform our policy thinking.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how access to fresh food is being incorporated into the NHS Long Term Plan’s approach to tackling preventable diseases linked to diet.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s Eatwell Guide advises that people should eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, and wholegrain or higher-fibre foods, as well as less processed meat, and food and drink that is high in sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt. This includes at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Fresh, frozen, tinned, and dried fruit and vegetables all count. The Eatwell Guide indicates that many foods classified as ‘ultra processed’ such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, and ice cream are not part of a healthy, balanced diet.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), alongside other Government departments, are funding research on a number of food system trials through the SALIENT programme. The programme prioritises interventions and partners that have the largest reach and the greatest potential to narrow health inequalities, both geographic and socio-economic. These trials include research on food and vegetable pricing in supermarkets and evaluating the effect of food pantries on food insecurity. DEFRA’s 2024 report on food insecurity also considered inequalities in access to a healthy, sustainable diet.
DHSC is working closely with DEFRA to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy, which aims to improve affordability and access to healthier food, to help both adults and children live longer, healthier lives. We are committed to making the healthier choice the easier choice.
Earlier this year, the Government committed to reviewing the School Food Standards to reflect the most recent Government dietary recommendations. Free school meals will also be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, including in rural areas. Our free breakfast clubs started with 750 early adopter schools in April 2025, and we have just announced the next wave of 500 schools, with 40% of pupils on free school meals to benefit from the programme from April 2026. The aim of these programmes is to ensure children receive nutritious meals at school and to remove barriers to opportunity.
Our Healthy Food Schemes, which comprises of Healthy Start, the School Fruit and Veg Scheme, and the Nursery Milk Scheme, provides support for those who need it the most to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Healthy Start provides funding to pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households to support a healthier diet. In April 2026, the value of weekly payments will increase by 10%.
DHSC is working at pace to develop proposals set out in our 10-Year Health Plan commitments, to introduce mandatory healthier sales reporting for large food businesses and then set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.
We will work closely with business to implement these commitments, and plan to conduct extensive engagement with industry and wider stakeholders throughout policy development. To assist us in the development of the mandatory reporting we will commence our formal engagement with businesses shortly. This will involve a series of workshops with a cross-sector industry working group.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with major retailers on improving access to affordable fresh food.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s Eatwell Guide advises that people should eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, and wholegrain or higher-fibre foods, as well as less processed meat, and food and drink that is high in sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt. This includes at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Fresh, frozen, tinned, and dried fruit and vegetables all count. The Eatwell Guide indicates that many foods classified as ‘ultra processed’ such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, and ice cream are not part of a healthy, balanced diet.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), alongside other Government departments, are funding research on a number of food system trials through the SALIENT programme. The programme prioritises interventions and partners that have the largest reach and the greatest potential to narrow health inequalities, both geographic and socio-economic. These trials include research on food and vegetable pricing in supermarkets and evaluating the effect of food pantries on food insecurity. DEFRA’s 2024 report on food insecurity also considered inequalities in access to a healthy, sustainable diet.
DHSC is working closely with DEFRA to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy, which aims to improve affordability and access to healthier food, to help both adults and children live longer, healthier lives. We are committed to making the healthier choice the easier choice.
Earlier this year, the Government committed to reviewing the School Food Standards to reflect the most recent Government dietary recommendations. Free school meals will also be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, including in rural areas. Our free breakfast clubs started with 750 early adopter schools in April 2025, and we have just announced the next wave of 500 schools, with 40% of pupils on free school meals to benefit from the programme from April 2026. The aim of these programmes is to ensure children receive nutritious meals at school and to remove barriers to opportunity.
Our Healthy Food Schemes, which comprises of Healthy Start, the School Fruit and Veg Scheme, and the Nursery Milk Scheme, provides support for those who need it the most to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Healthy Start provides funding to pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households to support a healthier diet. In April 2026, the value of weekly payments will increase by 10%.
DHSC is working at pace to develop proposals set out in our 10-Year Health Plan commitments, to introduce mandatory healthier sales reporting for large food businesses and then set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.
We will work closely with business to implement these commitments, and plan to conduct extensive engagement with industry and wider stakeholders throughout policy development. To assist us in the development of the mandatory reporting we will commence our formal engagement with businesses shortly. This will involve a series of workshops with a cross-sector industry working group.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of limited access to affordable fresh food on health inequalities in rural areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s Eatwell Guide advises that people should eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, and wholegrain or higher-fibre foods, as well as less processed meat, and food and drink that is high in sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt. This includes at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Fresh, frozen, tinned, and dried fruit and vegetables all count. The Eatwell Guide indicates that many foods classified as ‘ultra processed’ such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, and ice cream are not part of a healthy, balanced diet.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), alongside other Government departments, are funding research on a number of food system trials through the SALIENT programme. The programme prioritises interventions and partners that have the largest reach and the greatest potential to narrow health inequalities, both geographic and socio-economic. These trials include research on food and vegetable pricing in supermarkets and evaluating the effect of food pantries on food insecurity. DEFRA’s 2024 report on food insecurity also considered inequalities in access to a healthy, sustainable diet.
DHSC is working closely with DEFRA to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy, which aims to improve affordability and access to healthier food, to help both adults and children live longer, healthier lives. We are committed to making the healthier choice the easier choice.
Earlier this year, the Government committed to reviewing the School Food Standards to reflect the most recent Government dietary recommendations. Free school meals will also be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, including in rural areas. Our free breakfast clubs started with 750 early adopter schools in April 2025, and we have just announced the next wave of 500 schools, with 40% of pupils on free school meals to benefit from the programme from April 2026. The aim of these programmes is to ensure children receive nutritious meals at school and to remove barriers to opportunity.
Our Healthy Food Schemes, which comprises of Healthy Start, the School Fruit and Veg Scheme, and the Nursery Milk Scheme, provides support for those who need it the most to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Healthy Start provides funding to pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households to support a healthier diet. In April 2026, the value of weekly payments will increase by 10%.
DHSC is working at pace to develop proposals set out in our 10-Year Health Plan commitments, to introduce mandatory healthier sales reporting for large food businesses and then set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.
We will work closely with business to implement these commitments, and plan to conduct extensive engagement with industry and wider stakeholders throughout policy development. To assist us in the development of the mandatory reporting we will commence our formal engagement with businesses shortly. This will involve a series of workshops with a cross-sector industry working group.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle obesity in children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is shocking that the latest data from the National Child Measurement Programme showed the highest prevalence of obesity seen in reception age children in England since the programme began, excluding the 2020/21 pandemic peak.
We recognise that prevention is almost always better, and cheaper, than a cure. As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the childhood obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
We are also restricting junk food advertising targeted at children, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years of age, and ensuring the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains fit for purpose. We are working closely with the Department for Education to update school food standards. To support families, we are expanding free school meals to all children with a parent in receipt of universal credit. The Healthy Start scheme, which aims to support those in greatest need, will have the value of its weekly payments uplifted by 10% from April 2026, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most.
In a world first, we will introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for large food businesses. We will set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales.
Our current promotion and advertising restrictions on less healthy food and drinks use the 2004/05 Nutrient Profile Model to determine which foods are ‘less healthy’. This is plainly out of date. We intend to update the standards applied to these restrictions and will consult on implementation in 2026.
We are also working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy, which will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help both adults and children live longer, healthier lives.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to end child hunger in Devon.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child hunger. That is why the department is introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals (FSM). This ensures that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible from September 2026. This will provide over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day. Department for Work and Pensions data shows that 36,230 children in Devon will be eligible for FSM from September 2026.
The government remains committed to deliver on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. Over 750 early adopter schools are already being funded to deliver free breakfast club places for their primary pupils, including 27 in Devon. An additional 2,000 schools will join the scheme between April 2026 and March 2027, benefitting around half a million more children.
Additionally, the holiday activities and food programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their heath, wellbeing and learning.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 (a) the causes of the reduction in foodbank use in this calendar year and (b) how this trend can be built upon.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We have already introduced the Fair Repayment Rate, reducing the Universal Credit overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s standard allowance, giving 1.2m households an average of £420 per year. In addition, we have also uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually.
The Government has also taken further action to support low-income households including through the increase in the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025, boosting the pay of 3 million workers.
Ahead of Child Poverty Strategy publication in the autumn, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament and a new £1 billion package to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time. We have also announced £600 million to extend the Holiday Activity and Food Programme.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of asylum support rates on child poverty among families seeking asylum; and whether she has shared this assessment with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for consideration in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of destitute asylum seekers. We meet this obligation by providing accommodation and a weekly allowance. The level of the allowance given is reviewed each year to ensure it remains sufficient in meeting essential living needs.
Additional support is available to pregnant women, young children, and individuals who can show they have exceptional needs. Asylum seeking children are also entitled to access free healthcare and schooling, plus free school meals.
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 steps he is taking to support families with food poverty in winter 2025-26.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK Government is committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
Universal Credit is claimed by more than 8.2 million people across the UK and we are committed to reviewing it to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We have already introduced the Fair Repayment Rate, reducing the Universal Credit overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s standard allowance. In addition, we will increase the Universal Credit Standard Allowance from April 2026, estimated to be worth £725 annually by 2029/30 in cash terms. In Northern Ireland, all DWP policy is wholly transferred, and decisions about policy and delivery are the responsibility of the Assembly.
The UK Government has also taken further action to support low-income households including through the increase in the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025, boosting the pay of 3 million workers. It has also announced further measures to support families in a number of other areas where policy in Northern Ireland is transferred including, for example, our expansion of Free School Meals and Breakfast Clubs in England and additional investment in the Holiday Activities and Food Programme in England.
To further support struggling families, we provided £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. The Devolved Governments receive consequential funding through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.
Good work can significantly reduce the chances of families falling into poverty. Our Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by an initial £240 million investment in 2025/26, will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. In Northern Ireland, these are transferred matters. Ministers and officials continue to work closely with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive, with a view to maintaining parity on social security matters and sharing best practice in the development of employment support.
The UK Government will publish a UK-wide Child Poverty Strategy this Autumn that will look at all available levers to give every child the best start in life, building on work already across all four nations. The Four Nations Ministerial Group on Child Poverty gave Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland an opportunity to contribute to the development of the strategy and ensure that it complements their own initiatives.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the registration of eligible children for free school meals; and whether she plans to introduce free school meal auto-enrolment in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We want to ensure that all families who need it are able to claim the support they are eligible for. Creating a new threshold for free school meals will ensure that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit are eligible, making it easier for parents to understand their entitlement.
The government is also taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for free school meals by rolling out improvements to the eligibility checking system used to verify entitlement to free school meals.
The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty.