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Written question asked by Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench) on Monday, 4 December 2023, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 December 2023. It was answered by Baroness Barran (Conservative) on Monday, 18 December 2023 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Free School Meals: Pre-school Education

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional expenditure that would be incurred if free school meals were to be provided to all registered pupils at maintained nursery schools in England as well as to children in receipt of relevant funded early years education.

Answer

Over 2 million pupils are currently eligible for benefits-related free school meals (FSM). This includes pupils attending a local authority maintained, academy or free school nursery, as long as they are either in full-time education or receive education both before and after lunch and meet the benefits-related FSM eligibility criteria.

Additionally, close to 1.3 million infants receive free and nutritious meals under the universal infant FSM policy (UIFSM).

The department does not currently have plans to change the existing eligibility conditions for FSM or UIFSM. As such, the department has not made an estimate of the associated costs of providing FSM to all registered pupils at maintained nursery schools in England as well as to children in receipt of relevant funded early years education. The department continues to keep eligibility of FSM under review.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL811
Session
2023-24
Subjects
Expenditure Free school meals Pre-school education
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk