Reports that one
million children will lose out on free school meals are misinformed.
The introduction of
Universal Credit will actually offer a less fragmented, more fairly targeted
system that will ensure that more children will benefit from free school meals.
The figure of one million children is based on a hypothetical situation where
all children in receipt of Universal Credit receive free school meals, which
was never the intention. If all children in families receiving Universal Credit
were to become eligible for free school meals, around 50 per cent of all
school-aged pupils would be eligible. Instead, free school meals are rightly
targeted at the children who need them most, with around 14 per cent of
children eligible for and claiming free school meals last year. The approach of
setting an income threshold is comparable to the approach taken in Scotland where
a similar net earnings threshold was introduced in August 2017.
The Department for
Education recently ran a public consultation seeking the views of parents,
schools, local authorities and charities on eligibility for free school meals.
In light of this, the Department has proposed transitional protections so that
nobody currently receiving free school meals will lose their entitlement when
moving onto Universal Credit.
Moreover, recent
estimates suggest that by 2022, around 50,000 more children will benefit from a
free school meal compared to the previous benefits system. The Government is
committed to supporting children to go as far as their talents will take them
and I welcome extending free school meals to more disadvantaged pupils.
