Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the proposed updated School Food Standards improve the nutritional quality of meals provided to pupils in receipt of Free School Meals.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. The action we are taking to extend free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will ensure that over 500,000 additional children and pupils from the most disadvantaged households will receive a free and nutritious lunchtime meal, pulling 100,000 children out of poverty.
We are ensuring that the proposed updated School Food Standards fully support the provision of free school meals. The changes we propose to make are related to increasing fibre, reducing sugar and further restricting foods higher in fat, sugar and salt, in line with the latest nutritional advice set by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.
We are consulting on the proposed updates to the School Food Standards and the consultation will run until 12 June 2026. Details of the consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-food-standards-updating-the-legislative-framework.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help lower food costs for households in West Dorset.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is taking action to address food prices by working with the food industry on supply chain resilience, regulatory burden, and structural drivers of food costs. Measures already taken as part of wider efforts to reduce pressure on prices due to the Middle East conflict include tariff reductions on a variety of customer staples. The Government is developing plans to work with local authorities to support improved access to healthy and affordable food in areas in greatest need. Targeted support is available for lower income households through the recently uplifted Healthy Start, plans for extension of free school meals, and the Holiday Activity and Food Programme.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 126112 on Service Pupil Premium, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Service Pupil Premium in meeting the additional needs of pupils who are the children of service personnel.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Service Pupil Premium (SPP) provides extra funding to help schools meet the pastoral and educational needs of children from service families. It is designed to help schools respond to the specific challenges associated with service life, including mobility, parental deployment and periods of family separation.
Schools have flexibility in how they use SPP funding, and there are many examples of it being used constructively to support service children. The department works closely with the Ministry of Defence to provide joint guidance for schools and share good practice. It is important that schools remain attentive to the potential impacts of service life on pupils’ educational experience and their wider wellbeing.
As a group, service children’s academic attainment is broadly comparable to that of non‑Service, non‑free school meals pupils, and their rates of progression to further education, employment or training after key stage 4 are also similar.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils have received universal school meals for infants in each Hertfordshire constituency (a) this year (b) in total since the policy was introduced.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department holds the data for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) taken in Hertfordshire since the policy was introduced, but not at constituency level. This data is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and characteristics’ publication. The most recent version was published in June 2025 and the next is scheduled for summer 2026.
Information on the number of infant pupils taking a meal in Hertfordshire (and England) for UIFSM between 2015/16 and 2024/25 can be found at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25#section-free-school-meals-eligibility and https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/31364812-04d8-4846-70c8-08deb7cf662b.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme to include children from working families who are above the free school meals threshold but experiencing financial hardship.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire to the answer of 28 May 2026 to Question 1663.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Maths Hubs programme in improving GCSE maths attainment in disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Maths Hubs programme aims to raise attainment for all students in England while reducing attainment gaps, including the disadvantage gap. Data for schools with high rates of free school meals (FSM) eligibility shows that approximately 60% of both primary and secondary mainstream state-funded schools with 50%+ FSM engaged with Maths Hubs programmes during the 2024/25 academic year. Ongoing Education Endowment Foundation trials of the Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics (Secondary) programme will include analysis of impact for disadvantage pupils.
Although influenced by many factors, the results of international comparison studies show that England performs above the international averages. In 2023, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study found that performance of pupils in both year 5 and year 9 in mathematics in England was significantly above the relevant international average. Maths Hubs are continuing to support schools with the aim of reducing gaps in attainment.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of children in poverty in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child.
Our Child Poverty Strategy 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 change the course we are on and create long-term change. This includes the removal of the two child limit in Universal Credit, which will lift 450,000 children out of poverty. This could benefit around 1,770 children in the Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and 16,470 children in Staffordshire living in households affected by this policy. Alongside other measures, including extending Free School Meals to all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit, the strategy will reduce child poverty by 550,000 in the final year of this Parliament, the largest reduction over a Parliament since comparable records began.
This comes alongside tripling our investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, capping branded school uniform costs, introducing Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority, providing £600 million over three years for the Holiday Activities and Food programme and extending free childcare.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme to include all children living in poverty.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is specifically targeted at children and families facing the greatest levels of disadvantage. We are spending more than £200 million a year to provide free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during school holidays. This benefits their health, wellbeing and readiness to learn, with more than 500,000 children benefitting from HAF over the last year.
To ensure HAF reaches as many children who need it as possible, local authorities may also use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised places to children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF.
HAF sits alongside wider support for low-income families, including the expansion of free school meals, free breakfast clubs, and broader action through the child poverty strategy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of potential merits of providing free school meals to all school children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and reducing child poverty. We have allocated over £1 billion towards expanding free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit. 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. This is in addition to the money we already spend, around £1.5 billion annually, so that over 3 million pupils receive a healthy, nutritious meal during the school day.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps she has taken to help support people with the cost of living in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to improving living standards for everyone, in every part of the UK. Our strategy for improving living standards is through growing the economy, which is the only way to sustainably increase wages, and through tackling inflation, which erodes people's pay checks
Through action taken at Budget, the Government has eased cost of living pressures for households. From reducing energy bills and freezing rail fares and NHS prescription fees, to increasing the National Living Wage, extending the pensions Triple Lock and removing the two child limit in Universal Credit, the Government has consistently acted to put more money in people's pockets — with further commitments on free breakfast clubs and expanded free school meals ensuring families with children feel the difference too
The government has recently set out further action to continue easing cost of living pressures through a new package of temporary and targeted support. The Chancellor has announced a funded, time-limited Great British Summer Saving package supporting families and businesses with rising costs through a temporary cut in the rate of VAT on summer attractions and children’s meals in restaurants and cafes from 20% to 5% over the summer holidays, and free bus travel across England for children aged between 5 and 15 throughout August. The government has confirmed that there will be no rise to fuel duty this year, with targeted support for those most exposed, including farmers. We have also suspended tariffs on 125 product lines, reducing prices on staple goods, and provided targeted sectoral support including chemicals and ceramics.