Tolhurst rules out review of free school meal eligibility

Academics are calling on the government to widen eligibility to include families who are not living below the poverty threshold. They warn that one in five children who do not meet the criteria are forced to skip meals due to food poverty.

Widening eligibility would also tackle the stigma attached to accessing free school meals, they said.

• Families need urgent action on cost of living

• Tackling the growth in childhood obesity

But, in a written response to a parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat equalities spokesperson Wera Hobhouse, Tolhurst has said the department will not reassess eligibility despite the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on families’ household bills.

She said eligibility will be kept “under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those that need them”.

However, she added that “in setting a threshold, the government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from free school meals, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one”.

Tolhurst said 1.9m children are currently claiming free school meals which equates to just under a quarter of all pupils. This is up from 20.8 per cent in 2021.

In addition, 1.25m primary school children are being supported by universal free school meals for infants.

This means 37.5 per cent of pupils are being provided with free meals, said Tolhurst.

This week the Labour Party pledged to introduce breakfast clubs in all primary schools if they were elected. This would be funded through a return to the top income tax rate of 45 per cent, which had been cut to 40 per cent in Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget.

Campaign group No Child Left Behind has called on Prime Minister Liz Truss to extend free school meal provision to all primary school children. This move was ruled out earlier this week by Tolhurst , who says free meals should be focused on “the most disadvantaged”.

Joseph Howes, chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition and chief executive of Buttle UK pledged the coalition's support for No Child Left Behind's campaign, saying it is "extremely disappointing to hear that the government doesn't plan on reviewing the eligibility for free school meals in light of the cost-of-living crisis".

He added that the current eligibility criteria - families on universal credit who earn £7,400 a year or less before benefits - is "extremely low", and "results in many low income families, who earn slightly more, missing out on receiving these meals".

Meanwhile, Tolhurst has also indicated the government has no firm plans in place to reduce the number of agency social workers in the care system.

However, in a response to Labour MP Rachel Maskell on the issue, Tolhurst said that the DfE is “currently considering” recommendations made in Josh MacAlister’s review of children’s social care to improve social worker recruitment and retention.