Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that funding for free school meals is extended through to secondary school.

All maintained schools and academies, including primary and secondary schools fund benefit-related free school meals (FSM) from their core funding which they receive through the schools block of the dedicated schools grant and is derived from the national funding formula.

For the 2022/23 academic year the department will allocate £470 of funding to local authorities for each of the pupils in their area eligible for FSM. Local authorities then distribute this money to schools through their local funding formula, which must include additional funding for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as those eligible for FSM.

It is then for schools to decide how to use their budget, including how much to allocate to pay for benefits-based FSM.