Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of increases in the cost of food on school budgets.

The department recognises the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing. We continue to hold regular meetings with other government departments and food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues, including public sector food supplies.

Schools fund benefit-related free school meals (FSM) from their core funding which they receive through the school’s block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and is derived from the National Funding Formula (NFF). For the 2022/23 financial year, the funding schools attract through the ‘FSM factor’ in the NFF is increasing to £470 per eligible pupil.

In recognition of cost pressures, after the NFF rates were set, the department received additional funding from HM Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through the schools supplementary grant. As a result of this, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by £2.5 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, compared to last year. The department has also given schools the autonomy to agree individual contracts with school food suppliers and caterers, using their increased core funding.​