Free School Meals (Automatic Registration of Eligible Children) Bill, Second Reading

• The LGA strongly supports national auto-enrolment of eligible children for free school meals (FSM).
• We have previously called for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to work with the Department for Education (DfE) to share data and automatically enrol all children who are eligible for FSM.
• Government estimates on claim rates indicate that automatic enrolment could capture the 11 per cent of eligible school children who have not yet taken up the offer. Analysis of these figures by the LGA and the Child Poverty Action Group show this equates to 215,000 school children in England, under the current eligibility criteria.
• In the meantime, the LGA has been working with councils, partners and the DWP to explore ways in which national data can be used more widely to improve outcomes at the local level. Local pilots have demonstrated the huge difference auto-enrolment can make to the local area. Councils are doing what they can to support children who are eligible to receive a free school meal, with an increasing number finding ways to administer automatic opt-out enrolment locally.
• However, local authorities face a convoluted bureaucracy to do so, as well as time-intensive legal challenges, and they are already over-stretched and under-resourced. This issue is particularly notable with two tier authorities, due to additional barriers to data-sharing.
• These issues could all be overcome - ultimately saving time and resources - if the Government established a national process of auto-enrolment to ensure children that are legally entitled to a free school meal are able to get one.
• We would like to see provision in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, or through other primary legislation, to enable auto-enrolment for Free School Meals. This would avoid eligible children missing out on a nutritious meal at lunchtime and give them access to other benefits passported using enrolment for FSM.

The free school meals system is an important component of the support that is provided to low-income families and the broader work to tackle health inequalities and rising food insecurity.

As well as reducing hunger and hardship for the poorest children, widened access to free school meals could have significant long-term health and socio-economic benefits. A 2022 report from the Food Foundation identified that expanding free school meal eligibility to all primary school students would generate £41.3 billion in direct benefits to pupils and a further £58.2 billion in indirect benefits to the wider economy, over a period of 20 years.

In addition to tackling food poverty, free school meals have also been linked to better results in class and improved diet, leading to a reduction in diet-related health inequalities such as obesity. Research by PwC, commissioned by Impact on Urban Health, found that if eligibility was increased, for every £1 invested there could be a return of £1.38. This consists of saving on food costs for families, increased lifetime earnings due to improved educational attainment, and other savings to schools and the NHS due to reduced obesity rates.

Free school meals can help build a more equal education setting. Evidence suggests that providing free school meals can contribute to an overall healthier diet, especially for students living in socioeconomically disadvantaged households. Free school meals have also been linked to improving attention and performance of children from low-income backgrounds.

Free school meals must meet school food standards and they generally provide higher nutritional value than packed lunches. The Government’s introduction of a universal offer of free school meals for all infants has on average reduced the chances of a child becoming obese by 0.7 per cent, proving more effective in reducing obesity than policies focussing on food education or physical activity. Free school meals have also been linked to helping improve children from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their attention and academic performance. For example, FixOurFood research pooled data from five local authorities in England that implemented FSM auto-enrolment processes in October 2023. Results suggested that over 2,500 additional children had been registered to receive free school meals, bringing in over £4.5 million in additional school funding to support disadvantaged children.

A study conducted by the University of Leeds in 2020 found that only one per cent of primary school packed lunches met the nutritional standards in the UK. As most schools are required to follow nutritional standards for school lunches, an overall policy to increase the number of children entitled to free school meals could therefore contribute towards closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers, by allowing more children from low-income households to access the health and educational benefits of free school meals.

The LGA has previously stated that councils should be given increased support to work with schools and other education settings to follow the school food standards

The LGA is also urging the Government to review the current £7,400 income threshold for free school meals, which has remained unchanged since its introduction in 2018, in order to reach more children who are on the cusp of experiencing food poverty as household budgets are squeezed by rising prices and inflation.

A pupil is only eligible to receive a free school meal when they meet the eligibility criteria, a claim for the meal has been made on their behalf, and their eligibility has been verified by their school or the local authority. Parents and guardians are required to complete an application form via their local authority or school to register a child for FSM.

Schools have ultimate responsibility to check the eligibility of the applicant and enrol them. However, many schools choose to work with their local authority to carry out these checks. All local authorities have access to the Department of Education (DfE’s) Eligibility Checking System (ECS), which allows local authorities to quickly check data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and HMRC to establish eligibility for free school meals and other early education entitlements.

Pupil Premium is awarded to schools to provide additional support for disadvantaged children. Pupil Premium is only provided for children registered to claim free school meals. Pupil Premium is awarded for 6 years, and follows the child when they move school, even if the FSM entitlement only lasts a short while. Schools therefore lose out on funding when families do not enrol eligible children for FSM. Particularly, if the child does not want a meal or is already receiving a meal under another scheme, families are unlikely to sign up for something they see no visible benefit from. Schools’ Pupil Premium funding is currently linked to approved claims for FSM. 

Since the implementation of Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) in 2014, many schools suffered a financial loss in terms of Pupil Premium funding as parents did not feel the need to apply for a free meal based on their household income when one was already provided. Section 106 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes provision for free school meals to be provided for all pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. This duty took effect from September 2014 and is applicable for maintained schools, academies and free schools.

In London, the Mayor has funded universal free school meal provision in London primary schools for the 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 academic years. Parents whose children already qualify for FSM under the national offer are being advised to continue applying for FSM to secure Pupil Premium. However, there’s a risk that fewer parents will register if their child is already being provided with a meal through the local scheme, meaning schools will lose out on funding.

For example, since 2013 Southwark Council have run a free healthy school meals programme universally provided for all primary school students in Key Stage 2, to tackle food poverty and childhood obesity. This supplements the central government-funded, means-tested free school meals and universal infant free school meals. 38 per cent of children in Southwark live in poverty, yet many whose families earn above the £7,400 a year threshold would not be eligible for free school meals under the national offer.

Research by the University of Essex, which studied the impact of universal primary free school meal provision in Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Islington, found that the schemes have helped to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity (by 9.3 per cent among Reception children and 5.6 percent among Year 6 children on average) and help families cope with the cost of living, saving them £37 per child per month on average.

Another example is a case study by Brighton and Hove on encouraging healthy food options in canteens, cafes and restaurants.

FixOurFood, The Food Foundation and Bremner & Co identified the following challenges local authorities face in enrolling eligible children onto free school meals:

• Receiving conflicting advice on the lawfulness of sharing the data needed to identify eligible pupils.
• Being passed unnecessarily between government departments following data requests, delaying progress by several months.
• Coordinating data-sharing agreements with schools, especially non-local authority-maintained schools.
• Enrolling pupils who attend school in a local authority different to the one they live in.
• Working around the school calendar, leading to a mixture of delays and extremely tight deadlines.

This convoluted bureaucracy, as well as time-intensive legal challenges, are being faced by local authorities who are already over-stretched and under-resourced. This issue is particularly notable with two tier authorities, due to additional barriers to data-sharing. In the meantime, the LGA has been working with councils, partners and the DWP to explore ways in which national data can be used more widely to improve outcomes at the local level. Local pilots have demonstrated the huge difference auto-enrolment can make to the local area. Councils are doing what they can to support children who are eligible to receive a free school meal, with an increasing number finding ways to administer automatic opt-out enrolment locally.

These issues could all be overcome - ultimately saving time and resources - if the government established a national process of auto-enrolment to ensure children that are legally entitled to a free school meal are able to get one. Until national auto-enrolment is rolled out, the legal risk is borne by councils, and we would like to explore ways that this risk could be reduced or removed in the interim through guidance from Government.

Making it easier for children to have a healthy, nutritious meal would make a real difference to families still under financial pressure, alongside expanding eligibility to all those who are in receipt of Universal Credit and equivalent benefits, so no child in poverty goes hungry.

We would like to see provision in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, or through other primary legislation, to enable auto-enrolment for Free School Meals. This would avoid eligible children missing out on a nutritious meal at lunchtime and give them access to other benefits passported using enrolment for FSM.

While initiatives such as free school meals and the healthy start scheme have a vital part to play in helping families and children to access nutritious food, they must be supported by a long-term, integrated approach to addressing poverty and disadvantage. The most effective routes out of poverty depend on ensuring that people can access secure, well paid employment, affordable housing and inclusive financial support and services.

An adequately resourced national and local safety net is essential to supporting low-income households, and those who cannot work, to live well and access nutritious food. It is the LGA’s view that the national benefit system should provide the principal safety net for all low income households.

The LGA continues to work closely with DWP, councils, voluntary and community sector partners and others to press for a more sustainable local welfare safety net.

There are a number of measures that Government should consider to address these challenges and reduce the number of people facing food insecurity. 

We are calling on the Government to expand access to, and the value of, healthy start vouchers and expand the eligibility criteria for free school meals to encompass all children and young people of school age who are in food poverty. Alongside this, Government must introduce automatic enrolment for free school meals. Evidence suggests that these measures could deliver long-term socio-economic benefits and contribute towards our shared objectives of tackling inequality, reducing the pressure on health services and closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers."

Case study – Richmond and Wandsworth councils

Richmond and Wandsworth councils have used the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) to identify households who may be eligible for different benefits, but not claiming them.

The tracker brings together data from multiple sources to build a picture of households in need and their potential entitlements. The councils have used this information to run multiple take-up campaigns, including encouraging residents to claim Pension Credit and Free School Meals. The total financial benefit following these LIFT campaigns is over £2 million across the two boroughs.

There are several barriers that prevent residents from taking up benefits, including households not knowing which benefits they might be eligible for and the complexity of making claims. The provision of general cost of living support can feel overwhelming to residents due to the quantity of information provided, making it difficult for residents to work out which parts apply to their specific circumstances.

The LIFT platform enables the council to run targeted take-up campaigns for specific groups of residents. This means residents receive information that is specific to their circumstances, and the communications they receive have clearly defined actions. Contact details for further support in completing an application are always included in these communications.

Wherever possible, they work closely with voluntary sector partners to offer this support. They have also looked to run opt-out campaigns facilitating auto-enrolment (such as for Free School Meals), which have been received positively and further reduce the barriers to making a claim. They received support from Policy in Practice, the provider of the LIFT platform, to deliver these campaigns and to scope future campaigns.

The two campaigns with the largest financial impact so far have been for Pension Credit and Free School Meals. A breakdown of this impact is detailed below:

Zahraa Shaikh, Public Affairs Support Officer

Email: [email protected]