Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Children's Commission on Poverty report, At What Cost? Exposing the impact of poverty on school life, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that poverty does not prevent children and young people taking full advantage of school life.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all children, regardless of background, benefit from an education which allows them to achieve their full potential.

This is primarily being achieved by additional Government investment to ensure that poor children do not miss out on a good education. For example, through our pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion a year, we are helping schools to transform the way they educate disadvantaged children. We have invested £340 million to support cultural education and announced an additional £18 million funding boost for music education, giving thousands more disadvantaged pupils access to instruments. A recent Ofsted report showed that our policies are working, and the achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is closing.

From 1 September the Government extended provision of free school meals to all children in reception, year 1, and year 2. As a result, 100,000 more poor children are receiving a hot, healthy and nutritious meal every day, saving low-income families around £400 per year per child.

Together, these policies will help to achieve our goal of breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty and closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged schoolchildren.