Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that children in receipt of free school meals do not go hungry over the Christmas period.

Free school meals are only provided to eligible pupils attending school during term time and schools are not required to provide food for children during the holidays. Some local councils may, however, decide to allocate some of their funding to programmes that help families who find it difficult to provide their children with healthy meals during the holidays.

We are currently considering the School Holidays (Meals and Activities) Bill, which considers this issue, and will be responding in due course.