City Council leader calls on Education Secretary to extend free school meals
‘THE RIGHT THING TO DO’: Hull City Council leader Mike Ross
By Rick Lyon
The leader of Hull City Council has written to the Education Secretary to call on the Government to increase the number of pupils eligible for free school meals.
Councillor Mike Ross has written the letter to Gillian Keegan on behalf of the council asking the Government to extend free school meals provision in light of the cost of living crisis.
In Hull, 33 per cent of pupils receive free school meals, well above the national average of 22.5 per cent. Since 2018, the number of those eligible for free school meals in Hull has risen from 8,800 to 14,500. During this time, the eligibility threshold has not risen, despite the rising cost of living.
The council is calling on the Government to expand free school meal eligibility to all households that are in receipt of Universal Credit, as well as automatically enrol eligible students on the free school meals programme.
In the letter, Coun Ross sets out three requests:
Extend the eligibility for free school meals to all families in receipt of Universal Credit – this would benefit approximately an extra 11 per cent of pupils in Hull and their families.
Introduce automatic enrolment for pupils currently entitled to free school meals – removing the need to register would increase funding provided to schools, which is allocated based on the number of children who are currently receiving free school meals. It would also ensure all students get the meals they are entitled to.
Consider implementation of the recommendation made in the Government-commissioned National Food Strategy – for the earnings threshold for eligibility to be increased from £7,500 to £20,000 per year.
Coun Ross said: “We know that during the cost of living crisis families are having to make fraught decisions about how they spend the money available to them. This is the sort of situation that has not faced the nation in a considerable amount of time.
“This would be a simple, but effective, way the Government could help thousands and thousands of families. Ensuring children get a healthy school meal is the right thing to do and, with the support of the Government, this is something that could happen here in Hull.
“All children deserve the chance to grow up healthy, no matter where they live.”