Free School Meals

(asked on 5th March 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much free school meals monies is returned annually to the provider when not used by the intended child.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 8th March 2018

Maintained schools, academies and free schools are required to provide free school meals to pupils of all ages that meet the eligibility criteria. In addition, since September 2014 all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, have been entitled to free school meals.

In the current school funding system, no school receives specific funding for benefits-based free school meals. We allocate the dedicated schools grant (DSG) to local authorities on a per pupil basis, and local authorities then distribute DSG to schools through a local formula. The number of pupils in a school eligible for free school meals can be used to allocate additional funding in that local formula. It is then for schools to decide how to use their budget, including how much to allocate to pay for benefits-based free school meals. In addition, schools with infant classes receive separate funding for universal infant free school meals.

No funding is provided to the child or their family and therefore is not returned to the school when meals are not taken up.

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