Children and Families Act: Free school meals

What is happening?

The scheme, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in September last year, was originally designed for the provision of a free hot meal for disadvantaged fiveto seven-year-olds whose parents received state-funded benefits such as income support or jobseeker's allowance from this September until July 2016.

But an amendment to the bill, put forward in the House of Lords in January, expanded the offer by placing a legal duty on all primary schools to provide free school meals to all infant-aged children.

The new legislation also removes the date cut-off point and includes a new power that will allow schools to extend the offer to older children in the future.

The government has allocated £419m in 2014/15 and £590m in 2015/16 to fund the policy, with schools receiving £2.30 for every meal served to a pupil.

Who does it affect?

The new policy will have a huge impact on primary schools, particularly smaller ones with more compact kitchens.

To deal with this, the government has set aside £150m for schools to improve their kitchen and dining facilities.

In addition, the government will provide a further £22.5m to help smaller schools prepare for the offer, with each school receiving at least £3,000.

Implications for practice

Schools will have to ensure that their kitchen and dining facilities are fully equipped to prepare and deliver meals by September.

But some, including Clegg himself, fear that a number of schools will not be in a position to deliver the offer due to the short timescale between the policy being announced and the date set for implementation.

"What we're concerned about is the timescale under which it has been brought in," says Valentine Mulholland, policy adviser at the National Association of Head Teachers.

"We've been working with the government since it was announced to push them to provide more support and we've had some wins.

"The first big win is the concession that the offer can be delivered by a packed lunch under the nutritional standard [if their kitchen facilities are not ready by September].

"The government has been very low key about it because it's not what they aspire to - and it's not what we aspire to - but we have to be realistic that in some schools it's just not going to be possible by September."

Mulholland is also concerned that the funding allocated to help schools prepare for the policy will not be enough to cover building works.

"The capital funding has been distributed to all local authorities based on pupil numbers, rather than looking at where schools need it the most," she says.

"It's probably not enough for some local authorities and in some they may even spend that money on other things because it hasn't been ringfenced.

"In local authorities where none of their schools have kitchens, that's not going to be enough - it's probably enough to do up [only] a couple of schools."

Unresolved issues

In addition to concerns about the amount of government funding invested in helping schools to prepare for the policy, questions have been raised about the amount of money allocated to fund the provision of free schools meals outright.

A recent analysis of a pilot initiative in 294 primary schools in Newham and Durham - where 54,000 pupils were offered free school meals between 2009 and 2011 - found variations in the cost of each additional meal.

The study, carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the University of Warwick, shows that the cost of each meal ranged from £1.90 to £2.60, meaning that some schools will receive more than it costs to provide a meal (£2.30), while others will receive less.

Councillor David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association children and young people board, says funding is just one element of the policy to be concerned about.

"The picture is quite mixed," he says.

"There seems to be two big issues. One, I don't think the government has published its updated guidance on nutrition in schools, and a lot of schools and local authorities are asking about that. It was due to be published in February.

"The second big issue concerns the clarity about additional capital funding and whether a hot meal is required or not.

"It feels like the people behind it haven't really thought it through or thought about the practicalities of implementation."

A DfE spokeswoman says a consultation on the guidance is ongoing and that schools will be able to seek support and advice about the policy from the Children's Food Trust via a new national helpline.

Free school meals in numbers

£1.09bn - government funding of free school meals for 2014-16

£2.30 - fee for every meal served per pupil

£172m - funding to improve school kitchen facilities

1.55m - Number of pupils to receive meals from September 2014

Source: DfE