Free school meals ‘auto-enrolment’ scheme has fed 20,000 more children

A new scheme enabling families to sign up to free school meals has enabled 20,000 more children to be fed.

As well as preventing those children from going hungry, the “auto-enrolment” pilot project is saving households hundreds of pounds a year.

A total of 20 local authorities in England this year decided to identify pupils who qualify and sign them up without waiting for parents to do so. It is now understood another 40 local authorities are considering auto-enrolment, according to the University of York, which led the initiative.

The scheme is also generating millions of pounds in extra funds for schools – because pupil premium grants, intended to help schools cater for pupils facing disadvantage, are linked to the number of children claiming free school meals, providing £1,455 per primary pupil and £1,035 per secondary pupil.

For years, children from some of the poorest households across the country have been missing out because their parents or carers have not enrolled them.

Peter Lamb, the Labour MP for Crawley, has introduced a private member’s bill, which is due for its second reading in March, in the hope of bringing about a nationwide system in which qualifying families would be automatically registered, and parents would have to opt-out rather than opt-in.

“We know that at least 10% of families who are entitled to free school meals do not apply to receive them,” Prof Maria Bryant, from the FixOurFood research group and the Hull York Medical School at the University of York, said.

Councils taking part in the scheme as of now include County Durham and Middlesbrough in the north-east; Lambeth, in south London; North Yorkshire; and Wakefield in West Yorkshire.

Eligibility for free school meals is at a record high of 2.1 million – about a quarter of all pupils. Children are eligible if their parents or carers receive benefits or universal credit and their household’s after-tax income is below £7,400, but many families have not registered – up to 470,000 by one estimate.

Since identifying eligible pupils is a process that requires extensive data analysis, FixOurFood is urging the government to make the process easier by integrating datasets from different departments.

“I’m hopeful that our evidence will support national decision making so that a central process can be used, instead of burdening already busy local authorities to pick up the work,” Prof Bryant added.

All children in Wales receive free school meals, while in Scotland provision extends to children up to P5 (ages nine and 10). However, in England, free school meals for all children only extend to Year 2 (ages five to six). Northern Ireland has a higher income threshold than England for eligibility, set at £15,000 a year after tax.

The government has promised to triple investment in breakfast clubs to more than £30m a year in the 2025-26 financial year. Last month it began inviting schools to be part of an “early adopter scheme” in which up to 750 schools would be funded to set up free breakfast clubs, providing food on a “free, universal” basis from April 2025.