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<p>We spend around £600 million per year ensuring 1.3 million infants enjoy a free,
healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the Universal
Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014. All children in reception, year 1
and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to receive a free meal.
This is in addition to the 1.7 million children in receipt of benefits related free
school meals.</p><p>The funding of UIFSM is allocated via a grant to schools, funded
at a rate of £2.34 per meal. This grant was last increased for the 2020/21 academic
year and covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated
with providing the meals. It is for individual schools to decide how to allocate their
budgets in order to provide these meals.</p><p>The Disclosure and Barring Service
(DBS) is currently experiencing a significant demand for its services as organisations
start to recruit staff following lockdown, for example during September and October
it saw an increase of over 20% in demand for standard and enhanced checks. However,
the DBS continues to deliver its services in line with its Published Service Standards
which are available at: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fstatistics%2Fdbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions&data=04%7C01%7CHOParliamentaryQuestions%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7Ce1df4c92d0814e2bb49208d993aba6e9%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C637703187703426729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=UiwGKr%2BqaxSILbwMQHO1%2FVxQCpeRyMTK%2By132TKbgXo%3D&reserved=0"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-dataset-1-disclosure-progress-information-disclosed-and-update-service-subscriptions</a>.
Despite increased demand largely driven by COVID-19 responses and the gig economy,
particularly online shopping and food delivery, the DBS has consistently exceeded
its operational targets.</p><p>The department holds regular meetings with the Department
for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other school food stakeholders, including
the Local Authority Caterers Association, the representative body for school caterers,
as well as food industry representatives covering a variety of issues.</p>
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