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1717755

registered interest
date	13/05/2024
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, if she will lower the threshold for free school meals qualification.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Nadia Whittome
uin	26015
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The department has extended free school meal (FSM) support several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. As a result, the greatest ever proportion of children are now receiving free lunches. Over one third of children are now eligible for FSM, compared to one in six in 2010.</p><p>However, a threshold must be set somewhere. The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the correct decision.</p><p>The department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 16/05/2024 15:24:45 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4869 label Biography information for Nadia Whittome

1716169

registered interest
date	07/05/2024
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, what plans she has to uprate the income threshold for eligibility for free school meals.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Sir Stephen Timms
uin	24850
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The department has extended free school meal (FSM) support several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. As a result, the greatest ever proportion of children are now receiving free lunches. Over one third of children are now eligible for FSM, compared to one in six in 2010.</p><p>However, a threshold must be set somewhere. The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the correct decision.</p><p> </p><p>The department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 13/05/2024 14:59:16 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1701806

registered interest
date	17/04/2024
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, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of children who are (a) eligible and (b) not registered for free school meals.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	22377
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The department publishes statistics annually which detail the number of pupils registered to receive free meals. The latest data shows that over 2 million pupils are registered for benefits-based free school meals (FSM), which is 23.8% of all pupils. Close to 1.3 million additional pupils benefit from universal infant free school meals. Taken together, over one third of pupils receive free school meals.</p><p> </p><p>The department does not collect data on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM but do not make a claim. Therefore, the department has not made a recent estimate on the number of children not registered for free school meals.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 25/04/2024 16:46:24 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

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

1693472

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
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, whether he has plans to support local authorities piloting an opt-out model for free school meal registration.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	16882
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2024 answer text <p>Maximising the take-up of free school meals (FSM) 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 does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM but do not make a claim, and so is not currently in a position to provide data-sets on levels of under-registration for FSM.</p><p>The department has looked at the issue of under-registration 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.</p><p>The department is currently aware of a number of different approaches being trialled by local authorities to maximise take up of FSM. The department has not provided formal guidance to support these activities, nor has the department endorsed any particular approach to increasing FSM take-up for benefits-related FSM and universal approaches, but the department continues to engage with key stakeholders on this issue.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 16884 16885 16886 question first answered 07/03/2024 16:53:20 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1693474

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
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, what steps she is taking to assess the suitability of (a) opt-out and (b) opt-in models for free school meals eligibility where they are being provided as a universal benefit to all children.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	16884
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2024 answer text <p>Maximising the take-up of free school meals (FSM) 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 does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM but do not make a claim, and so is not currently in a position to provide data-sets on levels of under-registration for FSM.</p><p>The department has looked at the issue of under-registration 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.</p><p>The department is currently aware of a number of different approaches being trialled by local authorities to maximise take up of FSM. The department has not provided formal guidance to support these activities, nor has the department endorsed any particular approach to increasing FSM take-up for benefits-related FSM and universal approaches, but the department continues to engage with key stakeholders on this issue.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 16882 16885 16886 question first answered 07/03/2024 16:53:21 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1693475

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing automatic enrolment for free school meals.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	16885
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2024 answer text <p>Maximising the take-up of free school meals (FSM) 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 does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM but do not make a claim, and so is not currently in a position to provide data-sets on levels of under-registration for FSM.</p><p>The department has looked at the issue of under-registration 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.</p><p>The department is currently aware of a number of different approaches being trialled by local authorities to maximise take up of FSM. The department has not provided formal guidance to support these activities, nor has the department endorsed any particular approach to increasing FSM take-up for benefits-related FSM and universal approaches, but the department continues to engage with key stakeholders on this issue.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 16882 16884 16886 question first answered 07/03/2024 16:53:21 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1682594

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
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, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the earned income threshold of £7,400 for universal credit claimants under the Free School Lunches and Milk, and School and Early Years Finance (Amendments Relating to Universal Credit) (England) Regulations 2018 on the number of children who will be eligible for free school meals in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.
tabling member constituency	Twickenham
tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
uin	9947
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2024 answer text <p>This government has extended eligibility for free school meals (FSM) several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, most notably through the introduction of universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) FSM in 2014. The result of this is that over a third of pupils in England now receive free meals, compared with one in six in 2010.</p><p>The department monitors data on the number of pupils who are eligible for FSM, including estimates for future years, but no formal assessment has been made on the number of children eligible for FSM in 2024 and 2025. The department publishes statistics annually which show that over 2 million pupils are currently eligible for FSM. This is an increase from 1.1 million eligible pupils in 2018, when extensive transitional protections were first introduced.</p><p>Protections ensure that children in receipt of FSM will not lose access to this entitlement until at least March 2025, even if their household’s financial circumstances improve. The department does not plan to formally assess the number of children who would no longer be eligible for FSM, in the absence of the protections policy.</p><p>The department has always been clear that a child is only eligible for FSM if their family meets the eligibility criteria at the point of applying for FSM. The result may be that in some cases for children in the same household, some may be eligible for FSM whilst others are not. The department does not plan to make an estimate of this figure.</p><p>Further information is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-2f5a67c4-6e66-414a-a926-f959d8b6443a-tables" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-2f5a67c4-6e66-414a-a926-f959d8b6443a-tables</a>.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 9948 question first answered 19/01/2024 11:15:46 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson

1682595

registered interest
date	16/01/2024
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, if she will make an estimate of the number of children who previously received but are no longer eligible for free school meals as a result of their households reaching a net earned income threshold of £7,400 per annum under Universal Credit at the point of claim as of 9 January 2024; and whether her Department holds data on families with multiple children in which one or more child qualifies for free school meals but not the others.
tabling member constituency	Twickenham
tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
uin	9948
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2024 answer text <p>This government has extended eligibility for free school meals (FSM) several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, most notably through the introduction of universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) FSM in 2014. The result of this is that over a third of pupils in England now receive free meals, compared with one in six in 2010.</p><p>The department monitors data on the number of pupils who are eligible for FSM, including estimates for future years, but no formal assessment has been made on the number of children eligible for FSM in 2024 and 2025. The department publishes statistics annually which show that over 2 million pupils are currently eligible for FSM. This is an increase from 1.1 million eligible pupils in 2018, when extensive transitional protections were first introduced.</p><p>Protections ensure that children in receipt of FSM will not lose access to this entitlement until at least March 2025, even if their household’s financial circumstances improve. The department does not plan to formally assess the number of children who would no longer be eligible for FSM, in the absence of the protections policy.</p><p>The department has always been clear that a child is only eligible for FSM if their family meets the eligibility criteria at the point of applying for FSM. The result may be that in some cases for children in the same household, some may be eligible for FSM whilst others are not. The department does not plan to make an estimate of this figure.</p><p>Further information is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-2f5a67c4-6e66-414a-a926-f959d8b6443a-tables" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-2f5a67c4-6e66-414a-a926-f959d8b6443a-tables</a>.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 9947 question first answered 19/01/2024 11:15:46 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson