Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans in place to send free school meals to the homes of eligible children who are self-isolating as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

As schools and their kitchens are now open, they should provide healthy, nutritious meal options for all children who are in school. Meals should be available free of charge to all infant pupils and pupils who meet the benefits-related free school meals eligibility criteria. If children are eligible for benefit-related free school meals but are self-isolating, we expect catering providers to be in a strong position to support any eligible pupils through food parcels, be those daily or weekly. We have put guidance in place for schools on how they can support children in these circumstances, which is complemented by advice from the schools food trade organisation, LACA, and Public Health England on what a good food parcel should comprise. Our latest guidance for schools is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.