We welcome the news that the Free School Meals (FSMs) scheme will be extended to include any child from a household claiming Universal Credit, regardless of their income, which will see around half a million additional pupils able to access FSMs.
It is a fantastic opportunity to change the lives of young people and ensure they have access to warm, nutrition-rich food. This is especially important considering the impact that the cost of living crisis continues to have on families’ abilities to provide this kind of food at home.
We know from The Food Foundation that 18% of UK households with children are currently experiencing food insecurity, which might see them relying on low-cost food, reducing portion sizes, skipping meals or even going without food for entire days. In addition, food bank network Trussell reports handing out 1.1 million food parcels for children in 2023/24, an increase of 94% in five years.
This is why healthy, nutritious food being accessible during school time is such an important issue and can make a huge difference when it comes to physical health and wellbeing of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
However, there is another aspect of this which we believe the Government needs to put more thought into. Currently, they have only announced an increase in FSMs funding of 3p per child; yet food inflation is increasing month on month, recently hitting an 11-month high.
Alongside this, labour costs have risen by 9.8% as a result of the increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions and National Minimum Wage which came into effect in April this year.
With these financial pressures mounting, it’s imperative that the Government considers how they are going to fund this initiative properly so children have access to the food they need and education catering providers can remain in business.