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1695337

registered interest
date	12/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 165185 on Free School Meals, what the complex data, systems, financial and legal implications are of a government-led rollout of automatic enrolment for all eligible children.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	18079
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2024 answer text <p>​​​As previously communicated, the department has looked at auto-enrolment and considers there to be merit in local authorities exploring initiatives to maximise take up and to better understand the barriers that prevent such take up, whilst also ensuring adherence to legal and data protection constraints, which still remain an important consideration. These include constraints around data-sharing, as well as the need for families to make a claim for free school meals to be eligible under the current process.</p><p> </p><p>The department continues to engage with key stakeholders in this area, noting the methods currently being trialled across a number of local authorities to increase and maximise take up.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 19/03/2024 16:40:02 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1693943

registered interest
date	05/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 165185 on Free School Meals, whether any complex data, systems, financial and legal implications are still a barrier to the rollout of auto-enrolment.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	17089
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2024 answer text <p>Maximising the take up of free school meals is important in ensuring that as many eligible children as possible benefit from a healthy and nutritious meal. The department aims to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.</p><p>To support this, an Eligibility Checking System has been provided to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities.</p><p>The department has looked at auto-enrolment and considers there to be merit in local authorities exploring initiatives to maximise take up and to better understand the barriers that prevent such take up, whilst ensuring adherence to legal and data protection constraints, which still remains an important consideration.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 11/03/2024 12:12:32 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1663147

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2023 to Question 187978 on Free School Meals, how her Department reviews the eligibility conditions for Free School Meals to ensure that they support those that most need them.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	201001
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The provision of free school meals to children from households who are on low income or out of work is important to the Government.</p><p>Over two million pupils are currently eligible for benefits based Free School Meals (FSM). Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals policy.</p><p>The Department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM, but will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. The Department continues to work with other Government Departments to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and the impact on disadvantaged families.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/10/2023 16:21:56 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1539492

registered interest
date	04/11/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Social Mobility Pledge and PwC's report Building Relationships, Creating Value, published in October 2022, what assessment she has made of that report's findings on her review of free school meals eligibility; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	79273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>The Department continues to monitor the consequences arising from the increasing cost of living and is working with other Government Departments in providing support. The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming free school meals (FSM). This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. With a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, 37.5% of school children are now provided with FSM.</p><p> </p><p>The Department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who need them most. In setting a threshold, the Government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 79274 question first answered 14/11/2022 14:29:17 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1490606

registered interest
date	19/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 35936 on Poverty: Children, whether the 9 million most disadvantaged pupils are (a) eligible for and (b) claiming a free school meal.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	39784
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2022 answer text <p>The number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM) is published in the National Statistics publication ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics</a>. The latest published statistics show that in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming FSM.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/07/2022 16:30:10 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1464681

registered interest
date	20/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will increase the allowance for Universal Free School Meals in line with rising inflation.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	5625
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2022 answer text <p>The provision of free school meals (FSM) to children who are eligible for them is of the utmost importance to this government. We recognise the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing, and as usual are holding regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies.</p><p>The department spends around £600 million per year ensuring around 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. The per meal rate was increased to £2.34 per child in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p><p>Under the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Schools fund benefit-related FSM from their core funding which they receive through the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) and is derived from the national funding formula (NFF). For the 2022/23 financial year, the funding schools attract through the ‘FSM factor’ in the NFF is increasing to £470 per eligible pupil.</p><p>In recognition of cost pressures, after the NFF rates were set, the department received additional funding from HM Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by £2.5 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, compared to last year. We have also given schools the autonomy to agree individual contracts with school food suppliers and caterers, using their increased core funding.</p><p>UIFSM is funded via a direct grant to schools. The allocations are calculated using data recorded in the termly school census. This includes the number of meals taken on the census day, as well as the number of FSM-eligible children. We are mindful of the reporting burden on schools and feel that recording school meals taken through the school census is a proportionate and appropriate method of recording this data, whilst having controls in place to provide assurance that the data is accurate and reliable for funding purposes.</p><p>Head teachers and senior leaders are best placed to determine the use of their school’s budget, including how much to spend on school food provision. Subject to meeting their statutory duty to provide a free meal that meets the school food standards to all infants who are not otherwise eligible for benefits-related FSM children, schools may spend the grant for the purposes of the school or for a charitable purpose for the benefit of the pupils. This is set out in the conditions of grant: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-2021-to-2022/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-2021-to-2022/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022</a>.</p><p>Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools. It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the school food standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>If a parent or guardian is concerned about the quality of school lunches, they should in the first instance contact the headteacher or consider using the school’s complaints policy.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 5621 5622 5623 5624 5627 question first answered 01/06/2022 17:14:03 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1464684

registered interest
date	20/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Government's 1.7 per cent increase in funding for Universal Free School Meals on suppliers of those meals who are facing a 9 per cent increase in food prices.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	5627
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2022 answer text <p>The provision of free school meals (FSM) to children who are eligible for them is of the utmost importance to this government. We recognise the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing, and as usual are holding regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies.</p><p>The department spends around £600 million per year ensuring around 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. The per meal rate was increased to £2.34 per child in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p><p>Under the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Schools fund benefit-related FSM from their core funding which they receive through the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) and is derived from the national funding formula (NFF). For the 2022/23 financial year, the funding schools attract through the ‘FSM factor’ in the NFF is increasing to £470 per eligible pupil.</p><p>In recognition of cost pressures, after the NFF rates were set, the department received additional funding from HM Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by £2.5 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, compared to last year. We have also given schools the autonomy to agree individual contracts with school food suppliers and caterers, using their increased core funding.</p><p>UIFSM is funded via a direct grant to schools. The allocations are calculated using data recorded in the termly school census. This includes the number of meals taken on the census day, as well as the number of FSM-eligible children. We are mindful of the reporting burden on schools and feel that recording school meals taken through the school census is a proportionate and appropriate method of recording this data, whilst having controls in place to provide assurance that the data is accurate and reliable for funding purposes.</p><p>Head teachers and senior leaders are best placed to determine the use of their school’s budget, including how much to spend on school food provision. Subject to meeting their statutory duty to provide a free meal that meets the school food standards to all infants who are not otherwise eligible for benefits-related FSM children, schools may spend the grant for the purposes of the school or for a charitable purpose for the benefit of the pupils. This is set out in the conditions of grant: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-2021-to-2022/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-2021-to-2022/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022</a>.</p><p>Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools. It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the school food standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>If a parent or guardian is concerned about the quality of school lunches, they should in the first instance contact the headteacher or consider using the school’s complaints policy.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 5621 5622 5623 5624 5625 question first answered 01/06/2022 17:14:03 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1460108

registered interest
date	25/04/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to ensure that local authorities, schools, academies and free schools are issued with guidance on the continuation of transitional protection of free school meal eligibility during the 2022-2023 academic year for children from families in receipt of Universal Credit.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	158880
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2022 answer text <p>When the government introduced the new free school meals (FSM) eligibility criteria in April 2018, they introduced transitional protections that would apply during the universal credit roll out period to ensure that no child would lose their eligibility to FSM. These protections were enacted in our Commencement Order with the end date of March 2022, the date the rollout was then due to end.</p><p>When the end date moved to March 2023, the government confirmed that it had extended the end date of the protections to match this. Whilst the rollout is in progress, the government will continue to keep its guidance under review and will make any necessary changes ahead of March 2023.</p><p>The extended date of March 2023 has been confirmed in the school census guidance available here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1047457/2021-22_School_Census_Business_and_Technical_Specification_Version_1.7_publishing.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1047457/2021-22_School_Census_Business_and_Technical_Specification_Version_1.7_publishing.pdf</a> and is also available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/04/2022 15:49:41 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1176904

registered interest
date	06/02/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it remains his Department's policy to fund universal infant free school meals; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	13441
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>We are making a significant investment in free school meals for children. Nutritious food in schools helps ensure pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn. We ensure that the most disadvantaged children receive a free healthy lunch at school and in 2019, around 1.3 million disadvantaged children benefitted from this important provision, saving families roughly £400 a year.</p><p> </p><p>Free meals were also extended to disadvantaged further education students in September 2014. In addition, universal infant free school meals were introduced in 2014, and the department spends around £600 million each year ensuring 1.4 million infants receive a free meal through this programme. We have confirmed the funding arrangements for this provision for the current academic year, and arrangements for 2020/21 will be confirmed in due course.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 13/02/2020 13:11:44 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

1175048

registered interest
date	31/01/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase the allowance for free school meals.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	10738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2020 answer text <p>As part of the increased funding for schools, announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 30 August 2019, the benefits-related free school meals factor in the national funding formula will be increased in line with inflation.</p><p>For universal infant free school meals (UIFSM), schools receive funding through a separate grant and the provisional allocations were confirmed for the 2019/20 academic year last June. We have not taken decisions on future rates for UIFSM rates yet.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 10/02/2020 16:09:03 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson