Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for changes in the number of children eligible for free school meals in each of the last three years.

The overall proportion of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals has reduced nationally over the last three years from 17.1% in 2013, to 16.3% in 2014, to 15.2% in 2015.

As the economy improves, there are two million more people finding work including parents, which is leading to year on year decreases in the numbers of pupils entitled to this benefit. For example, the rate of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) has been falling steadily for the last three years, and this is one the key benefits that provides entitlement to FSM.