Calls for more families to get free school meals amid cost of living crisis
manchestereveningnews.co.ukWith families struggling amid the cost of living crisis there are calls for more parents to be able to access free school meals.
Currently only pupils whose parents are in receipt of benefits including income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit – and whose remaining household income is less than £7,400 a year - are eligible to make a claim.
But with costs spiralling for families, the Local Government Association wants to government to review that figure, which was introduced 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'.
By raising the figure to £20,000 for example, and lifting immigration limitations on who is eligible on a permanent basis - both of which were recommended in the independent National Food Strategy report published last summer - it says a further 1.1 million children would benefit. READ MORE: Parents brand Child Maintenance Service 'a joke' and too easy to dodge payments The LGA, which represents councils, is also backing the report's call for automatic enrolment to the FSM scheme - saying it would capture the 11% of eligible schoolchildren who haven't taken up the offer.
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