Written question asked by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 May 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 May 2024 (named day). It was answered by Damian Hinds (Conservative) on Monday, 13 May 2024 on behalf of the Department for Education.
Free School Meals
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to uprate the income threshold for eligibility for free school meals.
- Answer
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The department has extended free school meal (FSM) support several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. As a result, the greatest ever proportion of children are now receiving free lunches. Over one third of children are now eligible for FSM, compared to one in six in 2010.
However, a threshold must be set somewhere. The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the correct decision.
The department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 24850
- Session
- 2023-24
- Subjects
- Eligibility Free school meals
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2024-05-13 16:39:12 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2023-24/24850
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2023-24/24850
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2023-24/24850