Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families with children relying on emergency food parcels.
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 are expanding Free School Meals to every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament, and introducing a new £1 billion package (including Barnett impact) to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time.
This comes alongside £600 million for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme across the next three financial years as well as expanding free breakfast clubs, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
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 Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people 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.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include children from low-income families not currently in receipt of free school meals in the eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Through our Plan for Change, the government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. On 28 August 2025, we confirmed over £600 million for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for the next three financial years. This equates to just over £200 million each year.
This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens up work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.
We will be releasing further details about the HAF programme by the end of the year, including updated local authority guidance.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of child poverty in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the number of children living in relative poverty on a before housing costs basis for Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication.
An assessment of the trends in the level of child poverty in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency can be made using Table: “5_Relative_ParlC” in the latest published version, found here: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2024 - GOV.UK.
The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish our ambitious, UK-wide Child Poverty Strategy this autumn, which will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
In addition, we are taking further steps to support children and families through our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools, extend Free School Meals to every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit.
From September, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and above can now access 30 hours a week from the term following their child turning 9 months to when they start school. This means working parents could save on average £7,500 per year, transforming the costs of having children for families.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the meal rate for Universal Free School Meals to cover the costs school face in providing them.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department spends around £600 million annually supporting the provision of free and nutritious meals to around 1.3 million infants and almost £1 billion supporting around 2.2 million of the most disadvantaged pupils. In addition to this, we have set aside over £1 billion over the multiyear spending review period to back our significant expansion of free meals support to all households on Universal Credit, taking effect from September 2026. This will benefit over half a million children.
For the 2025/26 academic year, we have allocated a meal rate of £2.61 for universal infant free school meals. As with all policies, we continue to keep free meals policy, including funding, under review to ensure that nutritious meals continue to be deliverable. Departmental officials meet regularly with the sector, including the school catering industry, and use these insights to inform our work.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the under-registration of eligible children for free school meals following the extension of entitlement to all children in households receiving Universal Credit; and whether they plan to introduce free school meal auto-enrolment to ensure all eligible children receive the support to which they are entitled.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, lifting 100,000 children across England out of poverty and putting £500 back in families’ pockets.
We want to ensure that all families who need it are able to claim the support they are eligible for. Expanding FSM to all children in households claiming Universal Credit will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals.
To support take-up of free meals, we are also rolling out improvements to the checking system that we make available to all local authorities to help verify eligibility for free meals. This will make the process of claiming free meals more seamless for families by allowing them to directly check whether they can receive this entitlement.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to remove the two-child benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn.
We are considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The commitments at the 2025 Spending Review and since, including the extension of free school meals eligibility to all children in families in receipt of Universal Credit, are key steps in our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets, and a downpayment on the Child Poverty Strategy, building on the expansion of free breakfast clubs, national minimum wage boost, and the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools' core budgets in more deprived communities are not disproportionately used to meet the costs of providing free school meals.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This department spends over £1.5 billion annually supporting the provision of free and nutritious meals to around 3.4 million children. We have also set aside over £1 billion over the multi-year spending review period to back our significant expansion of free meals support to all households on Universal Credit, taking effect from September 2026 and benefitting over half a million children.
As with all policies, we continue to keep free meals policy, including funding, under review to ensure that nutritious meals continue to be deliverable. Departmental officials meet regularly with the sector, including the school catering industry, and use these insights to inform our work.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of school meal debt; and whether she plans to take steps to support families to reduce that debt in the child poverty strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
To help break down barriers to opportunity and tackle child poverty, the government will be extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy.
The Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Taskforce is considering all available levers to reduce child poverty and recognises the importance of financial resilience for low-income families. Increasing financial resilience is one of the four key themes for the strategy, and in February the Taskforce met with external experts to discuss this topic specifically.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were eligible for free school meals in Fylde constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department publishes data on school level free school meals in its annual 'Schools, pupils and their characteristics' publication, in the additional supporting files. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25. This includes a parliamentary constituency indicator. The latest figures were published in June 2025, and the next figures will be published in summer 2026.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the quality of school lunchtime provision on the wellbeing of children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. Giving children access to a nutritious meal during the school day leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes. We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, meaning over 500,000 additional children will receive a free and nutritious lunchtime meal.
School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the School Food Standards. To support governors, the department, along with the National Governance Association, launched an online training course on school food for governors and trustees.
To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.