More than 130,000 additional youngsters must be allowed Free School Meals however aren’t
More than a hundred thousand more children should be eligible for Free School Meals, new research reveals.
Children from families who get the Universal Credit benefit are eligible for a free meal at school – but only if their household earnings from work is less than £7,400.
The limit was set in April 2018, but has never been increased to account for the soaring cost of living.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Headteachers Union, said: “When children are hungry, it is bad not only for their health and wellbeing but also for their education, because it can be harder for them to focus on schoolwork. Even when it was introduced in 2018, the very low £7,400 income cap for free school meals meant some children living in poverty were missing out.”
New research by the Lib Dems, based on figures produced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests an estimated 71 more children become eligible for every pound you increase to the threshold.
The equivalent earnings today if it had gone up with inflation would be around £9,400 – meaning an estimated 135,000 more children should be eligible but aren’t. Increasing the limit to £9,400 would cost about £64 million a year – roughly the amount it would cost taxpayers to send just 36 migrants to Rwanda.
Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson, Munira Wilson said. “This Conservative government is letting down our children. Uprating the free school meal threshold with inflation would see an extra 135,000 children living in poverty be able to get a hot cooked lunch. Extending free school meals to these children would save parents money, encourage healthy eating and give children the energy to learn in the afternoon.”
Last week the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) called for automatic free school meals for all entitled families. Current rules mean families have to fill in complex forms to claim the benefit, and many miss out.
Mr Whiteman said: “These figures show in stark terms how the numbers are sadly only increasing. While it is scandalous that the government hasn’t increased this threshold with inflation, the simplest way to help many more struggling families would be to extend free school meals to all households in which at least one parent receives Universal Credit.
“NAHT has also long campaigned for children who are eligible for free school meals to be automatically registered, because this unlocks the crucial pupil premium funding which schools receive to support the most disadvantaged pupils.”
Ms Wilson added: “It’s a no brainer. Our children’s health and education should be a top priority, but time and again under this government they are treated as a complete afterthought.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have extended eligibility for free school meals to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century with the number of children receiving free school meals having doubled since 2010.
“Protection have been put in place so that, whilst Universal Credit is being rolled out, any child in receipt of free school meals will not lose eligibility even if their household financial circumstances improve.
“Under the benefits-based criteria, there are currently 2 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free school meal, 23.8% of all pupils. In total, we spend over £1 billion each year on free meals.”
