Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money was allocated from the public purse towards the provision of free school meals in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland in the most recent financial year for which data is available.

For benefits-based free school meals (FSM) the department allocates around £440 per pupil per year currently eligible for and claiming FSM through the national funding formula to local authorities.

Local authorities then distribute this money to schools through their local funding formula, which is set in consultation with schools. For 2018-19, local authorities collectively allocated £505 million in respect of pupils currently eligible for FSM.

For the academic year 2017/2018 - the latest year in which data is available - the Department for Education spent £649 million delivering free meals for all infant children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state funded schools through the universal infant free school meals policy.

FSM are fully devolved so the department does not hold information on how much was spent in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.