Push for ‘urgent’ free school meals expansion as cost of living soars

The “urgent” call comes amid the “devastating reality” of the cost of living crisis, with children who fall outside the free school meal eligibility criteria going hungry at school lunchtimes, teachers say.

The Food Foundation’s latest data estimates that 2.6m children live in households that missed out on meals or struggled to access healthy food throughout the month of April 2022.

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“Excluding so many vulnerable children is a real barrier to learning and must be urgently addressed”, teaching unions and organisations claiming to represent one million school staff wrote in a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi.

They added: “Now is the right moment for the government to commit to an expansion of free school meals, providing a nutritional safety net that supports all children to learn and achieve.”

Extension of provision

In England, all infant state school pupils up to Year Two can get free school meals during term time. Pupils in Year Three and above who live in households on income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit, are also eligible, as long as their annual household income does not exceed £7,400 after tax, not including welfare payments.

Scotland and Wales have recently committed to providing free school meals for all primary school children.

According to the Child Poverty Action Group, the current policy means that just under two in five children living in poverty are not eligible for free school meals.

This group of around a million children in total, also miss out on access to the government’s holiday activities and food programme which includes a hot lunch during school holidays, as well as benefits from the pupil premium, the grant given by the government to schools in England to decrease the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged children, CPAG said.

Stephanie Slater, founder and chief executive at School Food Matters, said: “We know from our own research that far too many families, identified by their schools as needing support, do not qualify for free school meals. With so many children missing out on good nutrition we fully support the call to extend universal provision." 

Tweets of support

Former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield took to Twitter to back calls for the expansion.

She tweeted: “Overwhelming support for the extension of free school meals this morning. A safety net for all children that would give families help & reassurance and show children that their health & ability to learn is important to us all.’

Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Academy Trust, tweeted: “Making free school meals universal for primary school children would end the stigma of receiving one, increase the health, attendance, concentration and attainment of many, cut NHS costs, create solidarity and increase their quality as all parents would be aware of their contents.”

Barriers to learning

Dr Nick Capstick, chair of the School Food Review Board and headteacher at a Wiltshire primary school said that the ability to thrive and enjoy school should be the “fundamental right of every child” but more and more of them are coming to school underfed or undernourished.

He added: “We are also seeing more of our pupils having time away from school because of illness and poor oral hygiene caused by inadequate diet. Schools are increasingly faced with the need to support and often feed young people whose families can no longer afford the right food at home. Universal free school meals is a simple way of eradicating this situation.” 

High costs of living are also affecting schools, with head teachers having to resort to cheaper meal alternatives, such as sandwiches instead of nutritious hot food, iNews reported.

The government said it recognised households were struggling to make their incomes stretch to cover the rising cost of living.

A  Department for Education spokesperson said: "This is why, in addition to the over £22bn announced previously, we are providing over £15bn in further support, targeted particularly on those with the greatest need.

"The holiday activities and food programme runs during major school holidays, and wider welfare support is available through the household support fund, which helps vulnerable families in need with essentials, such as food and utility bills."