Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to analysis by Child Poverty Action Group, published in June 2022, what steps he is taking to help ensure that all children defined as living in poverty are guaranteed access to healthy meals at school.

The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments to provide support.

The Department will continue to keep Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility under review, ensuring that these meals are supporting those who need them most. The Department believes that the current threshold is the right one, which enables pupils to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools.

The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, 37.5% of school children are now provided with FSM.