Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the annual cost of free school meals.

The core allocations that schools attract through the National Funding Formula (NFF) include funding in respect of free school meals (FSM). The FSM factor is worth £470 per eligible pupil in 2022/23. This will increase to £480 in 2023/24. The factor values for each year are published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs.

The Department spends over £1 billion each year on FSM. This includes around £600 million on Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM), where the per meal rate has been increased from £2.34 to £2.41, and backdated to 1 April 2022, in recognition of increased costs.

The Department continues to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.