MPs back push to extend free school meals to all primary school children

Dozens of MPs have backed a push to extend free school meals to all primary children, after Rishi Sunak was warned many pupils faced a “bleak, hungry winter”.

The Conservative government has refused campaigners’ calls to extend the eligibility of free school meals despite the deepening cost of living crisis.

Urging ministers to think again, Labour MP Zarah Sultana introduced a bill that would widen eligibility from families who meet certain benefits and income criteria to all primary school pupils in England.

“Without urgent action, children face a bleak, hungry winter,” said the MP for Coventry South – arguing that her bill would guarantee that “every child in England, no matter their background, gets a decent meal each day”.

She added: “Every child should be able to have a hot, healthy meal each day, but this is being denied to kids up and down the country, forcing them to learn on empty stomachs – and things are getting worse as the cost of living crisis pushes even more families into poverty.”

The MP’s Free School Meals for All bill was co-sponsored by a group of senior MPs – including Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson Munira Wilson, the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas MP and Labour’s Stephen Timms, chair of the work and pensions select committee.

Dozens of MPs supported the motion put forward by Ms Sultana on Tuesday, which will now move forward as a private members’ bill when parliament returns in January.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the National Education Union (NEU), and the No Child Left Behind coalition also backed the call, urging Mr Sunak to invest more in free school meals.

“The government has been gripped by inaction for far too long, cementing in a registration procedure for parents which is not only complicated but stigmatised. Access for all primary-age pupils would be a great leveller,” said NEU leader Kevin Courtney.

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The Independent has partnered with the Food Foundation for the Feed the Future campaign, calling for an extension of free school meals to all children in households on universal credit. Some 1.9 million children are currently eligible. But a further 800,000 children are unable to get free meals because their family’s income – excluding benefits – is more than £7,400 a year after tax.

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Major supermarkets – including Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Iceland – have joined the campaign, writing to education secretary Gillian Keegan last month to ask that all children from families who receive universal credit are made eligible.

The call for action comes as fears grow that even eligible children could miss out on support available over the Christmas holiday.

Analysis of the government’s Holiday Activity Fund Programme (HAFP) – which provides funding to local authorities for vouchers during school breaks – shows it only reached 29 per cent of the 1.9 million children eligible for free school meals.

If the scheme has the same reach again this year, it would leave 1.35 million eligible children without support with meals during the holiday, warned Labour MP Kim Johnson.

Writing to Mr Sunak about the issue, the MP said: “Give councils the funds necessary to tackle holiday hunger this winter and ensure no child goes hungry, and commit to rolling out universal free school meals at the earliest opportunity.”