Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to the eligibility criteria for free school meals on the number of families living in poverty.

Our new criteria for free school meals eligibility are forecast to increase the number of children benefiting from this vital benefit by 2022, compared to under the previous benefits system. In addition, our transitional protections will mean that all children currently receiving a free meal will continue to do so.

In February, the government published an updated equality analysis on the criteria following a public consultation. Our overall assessment was that we expect children with a special educational need or disability, pupils attending schools with no religious character, and children from certain ethnic groups to benefit more than others from the estimated increase in the size of the free school meal cohort. These children were identified as more likely to benefit from the new criteria because they are considered more likely to come from households with earnings below the new eligibility threshold. We did not have evidence to suggest there will be any negative impact on children with other protected characteristics.