Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of children living in relative poverty who are not eligible for free school meals.

The department has not made an estimate on this specific question. Benefits-related free school meals currently provide help to non-working families and those who are not able to claim the additional working tax credit that is available to low-income working families. My Department is working closely with other government departments to establish the criteria for determining entitlement to benefits-related free school meals as the roll-out of universal credit (UC) progresses.