HALF a million more kids will be entitled to free school meals under a massive expansion of the scheme, Sir Keir Starmer announced last night.
Every child in a household on Universal Credit will now be eligible for state sponsored lunches, in a move that should lift 100,000 children out of poverty.
Expanding free school meals will save parents on benefits £500 per child every year, according to the Department for Education.
Kids in UC households currently not eligible will be able to start claiming lunches from the start of the 2026 school year.
The entitlement will apply in all settings where free school meals are available, including school-based nurseries and further-education settings.
Most parents will be able to apply before the start of the new school year by providing a national insurance number.
Education Secretary Bridget Philipson told The Sun the move is critical for ending the post-pandemic school attendance crisis and cracking down on bad behaviour.
She said: “What we’re announcing is a game changer.
“This will make a big difference to children’s attendance and behaviour at school because we know that if kids are hungry, they don’t concentrate well.
“Sun will benefit directly from saving £500 per child per year.”
Since 2018 kids have only been eligible for free meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year.
The major expansion comes ahead of the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce publishing a ten-year strategy to drive down poverty.
It also follows mounting pressure on the PM from rebel Labour MPs to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Sir Keir said: “Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures.
“My government is taking action to ease those pressures.
“Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.”
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