CYP Now - Charity urges permanent free school meals extension for vulnerable migrant children

Hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty could miss out on free school meals unless the government extends temporary eligibility measures brought in during the pandemic, a charity has warned.

The end of the temporary change could affect as many as 360,000 children, campaigners warn. Picture: Adobe Stock

The Department for Education extended free school meals eligibility to families with “no recourse to public funds (NRPF)” in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, it has not been laid out how long the measures, which benefit around 390,000 children whose families are unable to access benefits due to their immigration status, will stay in place.

Charity Praxis, which works with refugees and migrants in London, has called for the change to be made permanent in the face of rising living costs.

Without this, hundreds of thousands of children will go without hot food, Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, policy and public affairs manager at Praxis, has warned.

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