Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take with the Department for Education to monitor the potential impact of the (a) expansion of free school meal eligibility and (b) changes to School Food Standards on children's health.

Free school meals offer a critical nutritional safety net to those children who require it most. Expanding the eligibility criteria to all families in receipt of universal credit will provide 500,000 more children with access to a nutritious lunchtime meal each school day from September 2026. The Government is now considering how best to monitor the impact of the expansion of free school meal eligibility and the update the School Food Standards on child health.