The Mayor is proposing to spend £140m in his 2024/25 budget to extend free school meals for another year from September. Free school meals help parents financially, reduce stigma for those who receive them and improve nutrition as well as school engagement.
The current free school meals programme in London delivers meals to 287,000 primary children every day and it has funded more than 17 million meals between September and Christmas.
The proposed extension will help hundreds of thousands of children who don’t qualify for Government help receive the meals for another year – saving families up to £1,000 over the two years per child as they struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.
A new poll from YouGov, commissioned by City Hall, found that more than a third (35%) of parents or carers of children under 18 are buying less food and essentials, with 41% using less water, energy or fuel to help them manage living costs.
The proposed new funding will see boroughs offered £3 per meal to help to continue to deliver the meals from September. This is 18.5% higher than the amount they receive from Government, who previously increased its funding from £2.41 to £2.53 per meal this year following the Mayor’s ‘unprecedented intervention’.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan commented: “Delivering free school meals has been one of my proudest moment as Mayor as I have seen the difference it has made to the children receiving them and to their families. I am thrilled to announce my intention to extend this lifeline for families for yet another year.
“I know from personal experience what a difference these meals can make and it’s been fantastic to hear from teachers how much better children are performing and also how much parents and their children have benefited, with parents not having to worry about how to provide their children with a healthy, nutritious meal during the school day.
“Sadly Londoners continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis and with the Government failing to step forward to deliver these meals, we have worked hard to find the money to provide this vital funding for the next academic year. I will continue to do all I can to help families cope with the cost-of-living crisis as we build a fairer and more prosperous London for all.”