In September 2013 the government announced that free school meals would be introduced for all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 (for children aged five, six and seven) from 2014. This policy was broadly welcomed by many organisations and professionals. The funding for universal infant free school meals, which costs about £600m per year, is not ringfenced and the Department for Education recently indicated that the programme could be cut in the Chancellor's November Spending Review. Although not a definitive guarantee of its continuation, the Conservative manifesto commits to supporting families "by providing free meals to all infants' and David Cameron has emphasised that he "is committed to free school meals in England".
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