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<p>Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) are funded through a direct grant to
schools. To recognise the pressures facing schools, the Department announced an £18
million increase to the per-pupil funding rate for UIFSM to support with costs around
food, transport and staff wages.</p><p>UIFSM helps to improve children’s education,
boost their health and save parents around £400 a year. There are no plans to change
the conditions in which these grants are made. The Department is continuing to review
funding in order to ensure that schools continue to be able to provide healthy and
nutritious meals in school. The funding for the free school meal (FSM) factor is increasing
in line with the latest available GDP deflator forecast when the New Funding Formula
(NFF) was published in July 2022.</p><p>Schools receive their provisional allocations
for UIFSM in June based on the final allocation of the previous academic year. Schools
receive a subsequent allocation of revenue funding in early summer, adjusted either
up or down to reflect actual number of meals taken. This is calculated using an average
taken from the October and January Censuses.</p><p>Local Authorities can decide whether
they should top up the UIFSM allocation from their general maintenance and improvement
budgets in the light of local circumstances, as they would do in any other year.</p><p>
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