Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Written Statement of 22 October 2024 on Mainstream Free Schools, HCWS150, what progress her Department has made on the review of planned mainstream free schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The review that my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced in October 2024 will put a stop to the over-supply of unnecessary places and channel funding towards improving the deteriorating condition of existing schools and colleges and enable prioritisation of capital funding where it is most needed across the education estate to counter urgent condition need.
Since the review was announced, departmental officials have been working through evidence gathered from trusts and local authorities to develop robust, evidence-based recommendations. We will update trusts and local authorities on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans for the rules on school uniform contained in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to be adjustable by secondary legislation.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For too many families, the cost of uniform remains a financial burden. This is why the department has introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require, to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities.
The department believes a clear and transparent limit, set out in primary legislation, is the most effective way to make schools remove unnecessary and expensive branded items and bring down costs for parents.
There are no plans for this measure contained in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to be adjustable by secondary legislation.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she next plans to review her Department's guidance on school food standards.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole-school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, that are restricted and those which must not be provided.
We keep our approach to school food and its guidance under continued review.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on the average cost of providing free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is providing schools and high needs settings with over £930 million in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with their increased National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs. This support is additional to the £2.3 billion increase to core school funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.
Schools will have flexibility in how they use funding through their NICs grant allocations to meet their overall cost increases as a result of the NICs changes.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she next plans to review the per-meal funding rate for free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department spends over £1.5 billion annually on the provision of free and nutritious meals to 2.1 million of the most disadvantaged school pupils, 90,000 low-income students in further education, and 1.3 million infant pupils. In addition to this, eligibility for free meals drives billions of additional pounds in disadvantage funding.
The government will continue to engage with schools to ensure high-quality meals are provided for children. As with all government programmes, the department keeps free school meal provision under review.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of children educated otherwise than at school that would be eligible for free school meals and are in receipt of (a) free school meals and (b) vouchers in place of free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department expects local authorities to consider free school meal (FSM) provision for children and young people receiving education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) in accordance with Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. This is set out in our published guidance.
The department has not made a formal assessment of the proportion of children EOTAS who would be eligible for free meals and are receiving FSM or vouchers in place of FSM. We are clear, however, that local authorities should be considering food provision in line with our FSM guidance.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing auto-enrolment for free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The free school meals (FSM) scheme provides nutritious school lunches to children who could otherwise not afford them. To support take-up, the department provides an Eligibility Checking System so that eligibility can be checked as quickly and straightforwardly as possible. The department is pressing ahead with an upgraded Eligibility Checking System which will allow parents to check their own eligibility, making it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to register eligible children for FSM.
The department is aware of locally led approaches to boost take-up of free lunches. To support these approaches, we are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on data sharing that will make it easier to identify families who are eligible to make a claim. We expect to have these in place from spring next year, well ahead of the 2026 academic year.
Officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to consider how enrolment may be supported through the Universal Credit claims process.
The department will monitor the impact of these policies and engage with local authorities to assess the impact that these changes are having on uptake of FSM.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to maintain the number of children eligible for free school meals at approximately the same level in the context of the maturity of the universal credit rollout.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Free school meal support is available to households receiving Universal Credit, and with an annual earned income of £7,400 or less.
This government’s ambition is to drive down poverty through our Child Poverty Strategy and cross-government work to support more parents into employment and to increase their working hours.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the annual operating cost for a 30 minute daily breakfast provision for a typical (a) single, (b) two and (c) three form entry primary school.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of February 2025, 341 (21%) of primary schools taking part in the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) are in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. Around 22% of primary schools in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England were taking part in the NSBP as at February 2025.
The department has selected the schools of the breakfast club early adopter scheme to ensure there is a representative sample of primary schools nationally.
This government’s new breakfast clubs are about more than the food. They provide opportunities for children to play and socialise before the start of the school day, supporting children’s attendance and attainment, enabling them to thrive academically and socially.
This is why the department is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every school with primary aged children, with schools receiving funding to cover food, delivery and staffing costs. This goes far beyond the reach of the NSBP in all, and importantly, the most disadvantaged areas.
On average, schools on the breakfast club early adopter scheme will get over £21,000 more than schools on the current NSBP.
An average primary school, with 50% take-up, would receive over £23,000 for a full year for an early adopter breakfast club. The amount each school will receive will be based on the number of pupils who accessed the club and the characteristics of pupils.
The department has used existing programmes and costs to determine the funding rates, and this has been tested and refined with a number of schools. One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding and understand what support schools need.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of those primary schools in the 10 per cent most deprived wards in England have breakfast provision supported by the National School Breakfast Programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of February 2025, 341 (21%) of primary schools taking part in the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) are in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. Around 22% of primary schools in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England were taking part in the NSBP as at February 2025.
The department has selected the schools of the breakfast club early adopter scheme to ensure there is a representative sample of primary schools nationally.
This government’s new breakfast clubs are about more than the food. They provide opportunities for children to play and socialise before the start of the school day, supporting children’s attendance and attainment, enabling them to thrive academically and socially.
This is why the department is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every school with primary aged children, with schools receiving funding to cover food, delivery and staffing costs. This goes far beyond the reach of the NSBP in all, and importantly, the most disadvantaged areas.
On average, schools on the breakfast club early adopter scheme will get over £21,000 more than schools on the current NSBP.
An average primary school, with 50% take-up, would receive over £23,000 for a full year for an early adopter breakfast club. The amount each school will receive will be based on the number of pupils who accessed the club and the characteristics of pupils.
The department has used existing programmes and costs to determine the funding rates, and this has been tested and refined with a number of schools. One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding and understand what support schools need.