School and education leaders representing more than a million teachers, support staff and others working with children have embarked on a new drive to protect their pupils from the cost-of-living crisis with a letter* to Prime Minister Liz Truss demanding Free School Meals are offered to all children in families receiving universal credit in England.  

The demand from the leaders of 12 different organisations follows on from publication of The Food Foundation’s data this week showing a rapidly worsening crisis with almost 14 million people – four million of them children, living in households where lack of food is an issue.

It is also part of the continuing Feed the Future campaign launched this month to highlight the plight of children living in poverty but not currently eligible for free school meals.

‘Hunger is now a real issue in our schools,’ says the letter which has also been sent to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and the Education Secretary Kit Malthouse. ‘We must make sure that every child has the nutrition they need to be able to learn and thrive…. We urge you to act.’

The devolved governments of Scotland and Wales are committed to providing Free School Meals for all primary school children, as well as more generous breakfast provision. There has been no such commitment to offer the same opportunities to children in England. In England the threshold to get Free School Meals is a combined household income of less than £7,400 before benefits. 

The current restrictive policy means 800,000 children living in poverty in England are not eligible for Free School Meals.

Numerous research projects have shown that good diet in childhood improves health, attainment and behaviour at school, as well as boosting lifetime productivity.¹ 

There is no other part of the school day where children are means tested to participate and campaigners argue that extending Free School Meal provision would demonstrate the government’s commitment to its levelling up agenda. 

Dr Nick Capstick, Chair of the School Food Review Group and headteacher at a Wiltshire primary school said: “We are now seeing a radical movement from the Just About Managing or JAMs to the “barely surviving families” where food insecurity is a daily challenge and the knock-on effect of food poverty a reality for a whole new cadre of people.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “School leaders are seeing first-hand the impact that the cost-of-living crisis is having on pupils and families. Our members are reporting that they are seeing more and more families struggle to afford the basics, including food. Free school meals have never been more important – more of a lifeline for children and families. It’s vital that they are extended to all those who are struggling on low incomes.”

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “There is clear evidence that providing children with a nutritious meal at lunchtime helps not only with their diet but also academic performance. Free school meal provision can be a lifeline for families. It is therefore concerning that there are so many children living in poverty that are not currently eligible.

The Food Foundation’s Executive Director Anna Taylor said: “The situation is getting worse by the month and as people struggle to pay their energy bills the crisis will deepen over the winter. It is essential the Government acts now to protect the long-term health and prospects of our children.”

*TEXT OF LETTER FOLLOWS HERE.

20th October 2022

The Rt Hon Liz Truss, MP, Prime Minister

The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse, MP, Secretary of State for Education

The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer 

Dear Ministers,

We are writing to you as representatives of over one million teachers, school and trust leaders, support staff, and governors and trustees in the nation's 24,400 schools. We are well placed to see the impact of the continuing cost of living crisis on our 8.9 million pupils’ ability to learn and lead healthy lives.

We wrote to the Government earlier this year in May, to ask for a commitment to an expansion of free school meals in order to reach all those children missing out on the nutrition they need to learn and thrive. We have received no reply, and as we embark on our new school year we only see the situation for the pupils in our schools getting worse.

We continue to see far too many families struggling to afford to pay for school meals as they fall outside the restrictive free school meal eligibility criteria. We continue to see far too many children facing the devastating stigma of sitting in dining halls with inadequate packed lunches.  The situation is getting worse on a daily basis - hunger is now a real issue in our schools.

Every single school professional is focused on ensuring that our most disadvantaged children are not left behind. To help us do that, we must make sure that every child has the nutrition they need to be able to learn and thrive. Not doing so would undermine all the great efforts of the education workforce to tackle inequalities, and support your government’s growth agenda.

Latest data from the Child Poverty Action Group shows that over 800,000 of our most disadvantaged pupils do not qualify for free school meals.  That works out as one full class in every one of our schools.

We urge you to act. Now is the right moment for the government to commit to an expansion of free school meals, targeting the children in poverty who would benefit the most. The clear solution to ensuring fairness and equity across our schools is to extend universal provision, in line with Wales and Scotland.  But as an immediate first step, free school meals must be expanded to all families receiving universal credit (or an equivalent benefit).

We urge you to meet with us.

Yours sincerely,

Geoff Barton, General Secretary, Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries, National Education Union (NEU)

Dr Nicholas Capstick, Principal of Drove Primary School, and CEO of White Horse Federation Trust and Chair, School Food Review Working Group

Leora Cruddas, CEO, Confederation of School Trusts (CST)

Russell Hobby, CEO, Teach First

Emma Knight, CEO, National Governance Association (NGA)

Christina McAnea, General Secretary, UNISON

Stephen Morales, CEO, Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT

Steve Taylor, Chair, Queen Street Group and CEO, Cabot Learning Federation

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary, National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)