Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the cost of the provision of a hot meal at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

The department spends over £1.5 billion annually supporting schools to provide free meals to around 3.4 million children. We have recently confirmed that free meals will be extended to all households receiving Universal Credit from September 2026. This expansion is being backed by £1 billion in additional funding over the multi-year spending review period and will benefit half a million pupils.

The department provides free school meals (FSM) funding to schools, who have flexibility to provide meals in the way that works best for them. FSM are currently funded at £495 per pupil annually.

As with all programmes, we continue to keep funding for FSM under review to ensure that schools can continue to provide hot and nutritious meals that support pupil attainment and health. Departmental officials meet regularly with the sector, including the school catering industry, and use these insights to inform our work.