Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing automatic enrolment in free school meals for eligible children.

The Department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming free school meals (FSM). Since 2010, the number of children receiving a free meal at school has increased by more than two million, thanks to the introduction of universal infant free school meals, plus generous protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM in schools, compared with one in six in 2010.

FSM take-up was estimated to be 89% according to benefits data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and December 2012/January 2013 census data. The relevant publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the number of pupils who would become eligible for FSM through automatic enrolment. The Department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and Local Authorities. The Department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.

The Department has previously had discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions about auto-enrolment functionality, but there are complex data, systems, financial and legal implications to such a change.