Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who was consulted on plans to permanently extend eligibility for free schools meals to children with Zambrano carers, families receiving Section 4 support, families receiving section 17 (Children Act 1989) support and families with leave to remain under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights; whether the findings of that consultation will be published; and what steps the Government plans to take in response to that consultation.
We have temporarily extended our eligibility for free school meals during the COVID-19 outbreak to include children of Zambrano carers, families with leave to remain under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, families receiving section 17 support who also have a no recourse to public funds condition and to families receiving section 4 support.
This extension was implemented urgently and our consultation was limited to other government departments in the time available. No formal consultation was undertaken beyond this.