There has been false information about this issue from the Labour Party and I am pleased to be able to give the real news on the subject.
Whilst the Labour Party have claimed that many children will be losing their free school meals, this is simply false.
Indeed, Channel 4 News have done a fact-check on these Labour Party claims, in an article entitled “Labour aren’t telling the full story about free meals”. You can read this by clicking on the following link: https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-labour-arent-telling-the-full-story-about-free-school-meals.
Channel 4 News have noted that under the current system, children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are all entitled to free school meals – this is not changing.
The changes concern children from Year 3 onwards. They are currently only eligible for free school meals if their parents receive an out-of-work benefit but do not work 16 hours or more (if there is one adult in the house) or 24 hours a week (if there are two adults).
However, as we move onto the new, much better system of Universal Credit, changes need to be made to the eligibility of free school meals for children in Year 3 or above.
During the interim period where we are introducing Universal Credit, the Government has relaxed eligibility rules so that all families receiving Universal Credit have been entitled to free school meals regardless of income or hours worked. This was a temporary measure for the interim period.
Consequently, the Government has recently announced its long-term proposals for after the interim period: if a person is on Universal Credit and earns more than £7,400 from work, children will no longer be entitled to free school meals if they are in Year 3 or above. The Government estimates “A typical family earning around this threshold, depending on their exact circumstances, would have a total annual household income of between £18,000 and £24,000 once benefits are taken into account.”
The Government’s proposals for this measure mean that once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, actually 50,000 more children will be eligible for free school meals than under the old system.
The Department for Education has made clear that no one who currently is in receipt of free school meals as part of the early rollout of Universal Credit will lose their entitlement once the rollout is complete. The only people who will be subject to the means test are future Universal Credit claimants. A spokesperson for the Department said: “No child who is currently receiving a free school meal will lose out as a result of this change and it is misleading to suggest otherwise. The fact is under our new criteria, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system. It’s right that we make sure this support reaches children from the most disadvantaged families.”
It is clear, therefore, that despite fake news about this subject Government changes will actually result in MORE children receiving free school meals!