Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the under-registration of eligible children for free school meals following the extension of entitlement to all children in households receiving Universal Credit; and whether they plan to introduce free school meal auto-enrolment to ensure all eligible children receive the support to which they are entitled.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, lifting 100,000 children across England out of poverty and putting £500 back in families’ pockets.

We want to ensure that all families who need it are able to claim the support they are eligible for. Expanding FSM to all children in households claiming Universal Credit will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals.

To support take-up of free meals, we are also rolling out improvements to the checking system that we make available to all local authorities to help verify eligibility for free meals. This will make the process of claiming free meals more seamless for families by allowing them to directly check whether they can receive this entitlement.