Joe Parfitt, Managing Partner – Education at Litmus Partnership, speaks out on school meal funding in light of the launch of the ‘Feed the Future’ campaign.
“School funding has never been under more pressure, with Heads facing difficult decisions about how to allocate funds and retain staff. At the same time, family budgets are at crisis point with parents, in some cases, having to decide whether to eat, or heat their homes. It’s sobering.
“22.5% of the 9 million pupils in England are eligible for free school meals, up from 20.8% in 2021. However, this figure doesn’t recognise the significant number of children from families receiving Universal Credit, who are confronting real financial hardship at a time of mounting costs. Only households with income below £7,400 are eligible for free school meals, which only helps the extremely poor and completely ignores the millions of others that are also living in poverty. It also doesn’t take into account the number of children in a family.
“Henry Dimbleby’s independent ‘National Food Strategy’ advocated increasing the threshold to £20,000, which would result in 1.1m additional children receiving a free school meal. Jamie Oliver has given his support to the campaign ‘Feed the Future’ which is calling for all pupils in families on Universal Credit to receive free school meals, raising many children out of food poverty and having long-term benefits for their education, wellbeing and future prospects, and therefore the wider economy.
“The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the cost of this action would be £400 million. This funding would not only directly benefit millions of children, but also help schools and caterers raise food standards and support struggling suppliers. “Unfortunately, the recent increase in the funding allowance to £2.41 per meal for Universal Infant Free School Meals is also is not enough for schools to provide a balanced and nutritious offer, with inflation running at 10% and with many ingredients served in schools rising even higher.”
“Investing in feeding our children is a priority, immediately and for the future wellbeing of this generation.”