70,000 children in poverty can’t get free school meals - including 4,000 in Doncaster

Overall in Yorkshire and the Humber region 70,000 children in poverty are ineligible for free school meals – including 4,000 in Doncaster.

In the Mayoral combined authorities the numbers are 60,000 children in West Yorkshire, 16,000 in South Yorkshire and 5,000 in York and North Yorkshire.

The report from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and The Food Foundation urges local leaders to do everything they can to ensure more children get a free lunch but say the onus is squarely on the UK government to expand provision of free school meals and end classroom hunger.

Infants are guaranteed a free school meal in England but children in Year 3 and above in households on universal credit must have a household income below £7,400 per year (before benefits and after tax) to qualify.

This threshold has not changed since 2018, despite inflation. More than one in four children in Yorkshire and the Humber are below the poverty line and living costs continue to be a challenge for families.

The charities’ report highlights the woeful inadequacy of the current free school meals system for families, with the number of Yorks and Humber school-age children who are living in poverty but ineligible for free lunches ranging from 1,000 in York to 14,000 in Bradford.

Child Poverty Action Group’s head of education policy Kate Anstey said: “In every corner of Yorkshire and the Humber there are children going without the food they need because the qualifying criteria for free school meals is woefully inadequate and outdated. Children’s well-being is being compromised by a cruel means-test in the middle of the school day.

“With so many families counting every penny, local leaders must do what they can to expand access to free school meals but ultimately this is on the UK government. Ministers must reform the system and work towards eliminating means-testing in the dining hall so that every child has an equal chance to learn and thrive and struggling families get some desperately needed breathing space.”

Shona Goudie, Policy and Advocacy Manager, at The Food Foundation, said: “It is deeply unfair that so many children in Yorkshire and the Humber are being left behind, missing out on Free School Meals despite living in poverty. While Scotland, Wales and London are all making Free School Meals available to more children in primary schools, the rest of the country is trapped in a postcode lottery where children are left to go without a nutritious, filling lunch at school.

“We call on the three metro mayors in Yorkshire to take responsibility for advocating for these children by calling on national government to fairly expand free school meals to more children across the country. In the interim, they have a duty to explore how they can use their powers and resources to introduce provision of a hot, nutritious lunch for children in their regions to reduce stark health inequalities, as well as ensure children can concentrate in class and reach their full potential.”

Government action on free school meals in England lags far behind other UK nations. In Wales universal provision is now fully rolled out to primary schools and in Scotland universal free school meals are offered to all children in the first five years of primary school (P1 to P5). However, the Scottish government has halted plans to expand provision to every child in P6 and P7 and hasn’t put a date on the expansion to P6 and P7 children receiving the Scottish Child Payment. In Northern Ireland the eligibility threshold is double the England threshold (eligibility is set at £15,000 in Northern Ireland) and a wider review of free school meals eligibility is currently taking place.

In the absence of action by the UK Government to expand eligibility, local authorities and local leaders in England are now taking matters into their own hands. Funding provided by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, means all state primary school children in London will receive free school meals until the end of the 2024/25 academic school year.

The Mayor of London has also committed to extending the policy beyond this point. Other local areas are also working to extend access, with pilots being set up from York to Stockport. While this will hugely benefit children in these areas, it also establishes a postcode lottery that exacerbates regional inequalities, with schoolchildren in other areas not having access to the same benefits and life chances.

CPAG and the Food Foundation’s new report encourages local leaders to do what they can to expand access to free school meals but also to join national calls for an extension of entitlement.