Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to increase the threshold for Free School Meals in line with the National Food Strategy recommendations.
The department supports over 1.7 million pupils from the lowest income families to concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom through the provision of free school meals. An additional 1.3 million infants receive a free meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meals policy.
In 2018, the government introduced new eligibility criteria for families on Universal Credit, following a consultation in 2017. It was estimated that this will be more generous in its reach by 2022, in comparison to the legacy benefit system. Further to this, we included generous protections which mean any family eligible for free school meals transitioning to Universal Credit from a legacy benefit will continue to have access to free school meals even if they move above the earnings threshold.
The government will fully consider the recommendations of the National Food Strategy, which included recommendations around free school meal eligibility, and will respond in due course.