Free School Meals

Department for Education written question – answered at on 10 December 2020.

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Photo of Nusrat Ghani Nusrat Ghani Conservative, Wealden

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to provide (a) financial and (b) teaching support for schools whose staff have to deliver free school meals to individual students’ families; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing the free school meals voucher scheme.

Photo of Vicky Ford Vicky Ford The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education

Now that schools and their kitchens are open, the provision of healthy, nutritious meal options for all children who are in school has resumed. Meals should be available free of charge to all infant pupils, and pupils who meet the benefits-related free school meals eligibility criteria.

Schools should work with their existing suppliers to support eligible pupils who need to be at home due to self-isolation through the provision of food parcels. The guidance advises schools on what to do, and provides information on best practice. This includes details on what makes a good food parcel, as well as recommendations for weekly deliveries, rather than daily ones, to reduce time pressures. Further information on this guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance.

Building on the significant support given to the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 outbreak, the government has also announced a new £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme, which will be run by local authorities in England. Funding has already been distributed and will be ring-fenced, with at least 80% earmarked to assist with food and utility bills. This will cover the period up to the end of March 2021.

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