Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the payment to providers for universal free infant school meals above the current rate of £2.30 per meal which has applied since 2014.

The £2.30 per meal rate that we provide to schools to fund universal infant free school meals was set at the last Spending Review in 2015. The rate is based on the School Food Trust’s survey estimate of the average cost of a primary school meal, and on discussion with stakeholders and school food experts.

Decisions about school funding beyond 2020 will be taken at the next Spending Review in 2019.