Free School Meals Impact on Children and Parents 2023-12-11
2023-12-11
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
Free school meals are provided to support disadvantaged families, but there is a concern about their impact and effectiveness.
What recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of free school meals on children and their parents?
Free school meals support disadvantaged families to the value of £480 a year, ensuring that eligible pupils receive a healthy, nutritious meal. The Government have expanded free school meals more than any other in recent decades; now, more than a third of pupils in England receive them, compared with a sixth in 2010.
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Assessment & feedback
The impact assessment requested was not provided; instead, information about the expansion and current coverage was given.
Under Review
Response accuracy
Q2
Direct Answer
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Context
Inflation has increased the costs of providing free school meals, and smaller schools face challenges due to lack of economies of scale.
Recently, we have had high food inflation. While I welcome the fact that the Government have now halved inflation, one of my small schools has told me that it is unable to provide free meals within the money allocated, as it cannot benefit from the same economies of scale as larger schools. Will my right hon. Friend review the funds available for small schools?
I acknowledge my hon. Friend's point. The national funding formula recognises that some schools are necessarily small and do not have the same opportunities to realise economies of scale. Every school receives a lump sum, irrespective of its size—£134,000 for next year—and the Government have reformed the sparsity factor, increasing funding for that from £42 million in 2021-22 to £98 million in 2024-25.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy