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Free School Meals

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School canteen

March 2019

While I appreciate your concerns, let me assure you that the introduction of Universal Credit offers a less fragmented, more fairly targeted system that will ensure more children will benefit from free school meals.

The claim that one million children will lose out on free school meals is misinformed. This figure 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.

You may be encouraged to learn that the Department for Education 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 go as far as their talents will take them and I am glad that, following public consultations, we can extend free school meals to more disadvantaged pupils.

In Parliament

  • National Campaign Responses
    • Historic Campaigns
      • Abortion
      • Resignation of Sir Kim Darroch
      • Tethering Campaign: #BreakTheChain
      • Sale of RBS Shares
      • Drones
      • Audio visual information on buses
      • Offensive Weapons Bill
      • NSPCC - Close the Loophole
      • Deportations of Foreign Criminals
      • Draft Enviroment Bill
      • Free School Meals
      • NHS Workforce and Brexit
      • Health and Care Professions Council Fee (EDM 2069)
      • Human Rights Defenders - Azza Soliman
      • Julian Assange
      • Cocoa Production
      • Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs).
      • Paternal Leave
      • Probate Fees
      • Proportional Representation (EDM 591)
      • Prosecutions against army veterans Northern Ireland.
      • Racehorse Welfare Grand National
      • Faulty Tumble Dryers
      • Support Our Pubs
      • The ONE Campaign
      • Bowel Cancer
      • EDM 1829: ban trophy hunting imports into the UK
      • Dubs Amendment
      • DVLA - Assessing Fitness to Drive
      • Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill
      • NHS waiting times
      • Rent 3 Years Tenancy
      • Arthritis
      • Car Manufacturers and Supply Chains
      • Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
      • Debt relief for developing countries
      • Open Doors World Watch List
      • Arms Exports
      • Fixed Odds Betting Terminals
      • Homelessness - Crisis Report "Everybody In"
      • Highway Code Review Horses
      • Protection of pollinators
      • Section 106 of the Equality Act
      • Caging of pheasants and partridges
      • Digital Services Tax
      • Agriculture Bill
      • Postnatal Mental Health
      • Deportation Kweku Adoboli
      • BBC Impartiality
      • Pensions Dashboard
      • Al Quds and Hezbollah
      • Preserve the Antarctic Ocean

Gillian Keegan

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Promoted by Susan Taylor on behalf of Gillian Keegan, both at St John's House, St John's Street, Chichester, PO19 1UU
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