Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her answer of 22 January 2026 to Question 106805, what steps her department is taking to ensure that all local authorities give serious consideration to implementing auto-enrolment for free school meals.
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 want to make sure that every family that needs support can access it.
Local authorities are responsible for managing their own processes for identifying children eligible for free school meals. We know that many schools and local authorities have established very effective ways to encourage eligible families to register.
By 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 the start of the 2026/27 academic year, this will make it much easier for local authorities, schools and parents to know which children are entitled to receive free meals. Our improvements to the digital system used to review eligibility will also make it easier for parents to understand their entitlement.
As with all government policies, we continue to keep free school meals under review.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of food price inflation on households experiencing food insecurity; and how that assessment informs current food and agriculture policy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food price inflation is part of a wider challenge on cost of living and the Government’s approach goes beyond tackling food alone. The Government is working to address the cost-of-living pressures facing families across the country through targeted measures including raising the minimum wage, extending the bus fare cap, rolling out Best Start family hubs; extending the holiday activity and food programme; the expansion of free-school-meals; removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit; and reforming the crisis support though the introduction of the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Defra is introducing the Food Inflation Gateway which will assess the impact of Government regulations on food businesses and food prices before implementation. In December 2025, the Government announced the creation of the Farming & Food Partnership Board which will bring together farming, food, retail, finance and Government, taking a strategic farm to fork approach to increase farming profitability and strengthen our food production.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the free school milk entitlement through the Nursery Milk Scheme to the end of the academic year in which a child turns five.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursery Milk Scheme (NMS) is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five years old who attend a setting for two or more hours per day.
The NHS Business Services Authority, which delivers the NMS on behalf of the Department, does not hold data relating to the number of children who became ineligible for free milk as a result of the age eligibility cut-off of the NMS.
There are no plans to extend eligibility for the NMS to cover children until the end of the academic year, during which they reach their fifth birthday. However, the School Food Standards provide that milk must be available in schools for those who want it at least once a day during school hours. Separate legislation allows pupils who are eligible for free school meals to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old. Free school meal eligibility will be expanded from September 2026 to more disadvantaged children, leading to higher attainment, improved behaviour, and better outcomes. As eligibility widens, more children will be able to access free milk.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children became ineligible for free school milk as a result of the age eligibility cut-off of the Nursery Milk Scheme in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursery Milk Scheme (NMS) is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five years old who attend a setting for two or more hours per day.
The NHS Business Services Authority, which delivers the NMS on behalf of the Department, does not hold data relating to the number of children who became ineligible for free milk as a result of the age eligibility cut-off of the NMS.
There are no plans to extend eligibility for the NMS to cover children until the end of the academic year, during which they reach their fifth birthday. However, the School Food Standards provide that milk must be available in schools for those who want it at least once a day during school hours. Separate legislation allows pupils who are eligible for free school meals to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old. Free school meal eligibility will be expanded from September 2026 to more disadvantaged children, leading to higher attainment, improved behaviour, and better outcomes. As eligibility widens, more children will be able to access free milk.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of age-based eligibility criteria for free school milk on (a) educational and (b) health inequalities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursery Milk Scheme (NMS) is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five years old who attend a setting for two or more hours per day.
The NHS Business Services Authority, which delivers the NMS on behalf of the Department, does not hold data relating to the number of children who became ineligible for free milk as a result of the age eligibility cut-off of the NMS.
There are no plans to extend eligibility for the NMS to cover children until the end of the academic year, during which they reach their fifth birthday. However, the School Food Standards provide that milk must be available in schools for those who want it at least once a day during school hours. Separate legislation allows pupils who are eligible for free school meals to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old. Free school meal eligibility will be expanded from September 2026 to more disadvantaged children, leading to higher attainment, improved behaviour, and better outcomes. As eligibility widens, more children will be able to access free milk.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason eligibility for the Holiday Activities and Food programme is limited to children who meet the benefits-related Free School Meals criteria.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme provides free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during the school holidays. The programme is mainly aimed at children in receipt of benefits‑related free school meals, to ensure that funding is focused on the most disadvantaged. Research has shown that the school holidays can be pressure points for some families. Children from households on low incomes are more likely to experience food insecurity, social isolation, reduced physical activity, and fewer opportunities for enriching experiences during the school holidays. HAF directly responds to this by ensuring all sessions include a nutritious meal and enriching and physical activities, benefiting health, wellbeing and learning of those who attend.
In addition, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to extend free school milk provision in 2026 to the additional 500,000 children newly eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon to the answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108822.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many foodbanks have been officially recorded as being in operation in each year for the past 10 years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation and therefore does not hold data on the number of foodbanks in operation.
The Government recognises that the level of household food insecurity in the UK is unacceptable. We have already announced action to expand free school meals, support parents with the cost of healthy food outside of school and transform our food system to ensure it delivers access to affordable, healthy food. Our plan to Make Work Pay is part of the mission to grow the economy, raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all.
To further support struggling households, £742 million of funding was provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.
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 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.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether additional support will be made available to schools to help meet staffing costs as a result of the launch of the new free breakfast club programme in April 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is committed to its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state funded school with primary-aged children and the department has successfully delivered 7 million meals so far through our 750 early adopter schools.
Having listened to schools and taken onboard feedback from the early adopter phase, we have increased the mainstream funding rate from April to help schools in areas including staffing.
Schools have the discretion to identify the most appropriate workforce to deliver free breakfast clubs, depending on their school’s context, existing staff contracts and arrangements and the mix of skills and experience required.
Free breakfast clubs can be led by various individuals, including teaching assistants, school catering staff, private, voluntary or independent providers, or others specifically hired to deliver the role.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to help tackle inequalities in access to healthy, minimally processed food through education.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The national curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department has set out that we will enhance the identity of food education by clearly distinguishing cooking and nutrition, which will be renamed food and nutrition, as a distinct strand within design and technology.
The updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance includes content on healthy eating. Pupils are taught what constitutes a healthy diet, the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals, the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating.
The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. We aim to revise the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
From September 2026, we will extend free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. This will ensure that over 500,000 additional children receive a free and nutritious lunchtime meal.