Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Children North East (CNE) and the North East Child Poverty Commission (NECPC) have circulated a briefing centred around the region’s free school meals provision and the government’s decision to move the goalposts for this year’s calculation of pupil premium allocations, using census data from October 2020 rather than January 2021.
Two weeks ago Schools North East highlighted this issue finding that the losses for schools could equate to between £5.16 million and £7.26 million. Now, the new briefing highlights that one in four children living below the poverty line are not currently eligible for free school meals. This equates to over 35,000 children who are missing out on this scheme and the benefits which come with this. In the north-east of England it is calculated that there are on average ten children below the poverty line in a classroom of thirty. The cost would be £38.1 million to expand free school meals to all households in the North East receiving universal credit (or equivalent benefits) on top of the current status quo. This would benefit an additional 83,000 schoolchildren, many of whom live in poverty.
Following the work Schools North East has done to highlight this, Labour MPs took collective action sending a letter to the Secretary of State calling for action on this issue as the government’s new calculations are a “deliberate attempt to deprive schools of money they need to give our young people the best possible start in life.”
The current regional take-up rate for free school meals is 89% but it is important to note that this figure is rising. Additionally, in Sunderland alone there has been a 6% increase of 625 pupils who are eligible for free school meals which, with the new PP calculations, would result in a loss of £797,025 in PP funding.
The briefing finds that there is a clear relationship between free school meals eligibility and child poverty. However, the mitigating factors are that: earnings are not the same as equivalised household income, some families who are eligible for free school meals do not claim them, and universal infant free school meals mean that some children in poverty who are not eligible/do not claim free school meals still receive free school meals. Looking at the case study provided in the briefing, a key conclusion is that the living and economic situation that many people have found themselves in since the New Year is vastly different from where they were in October 2020 and the, as TES described it, “stealth cut” from the government will only serve to alienate young people and could have disastrous consequences for their futures.
Free school meals have served in the past as a strong anti-poverty measure and the briefing highlights the benefits of this:
“They (free school meals) can help to boost children’s learning and attainment5, as well as supporting their health through providing a balanced meal each day. Children also benefit from the social experiences of sitting down together, eating the same food and sharing the dining hall experience. For families, free school meal entitlements can relieve pressures on household budgets and free up money for other living costs. Expanding free school meals to more children can also help to tackle inequalities by decreasing the number of children in low-income families who miss out, and it can reduce stigma associated with the entitlement. More broadly, research shows that when children are hungry at school they miss out on learning.”
The recommendations to the government made in the briefing are to restore the previous free school meals eligibility threshold, make permanent the temporary extension of free school meals eligibility to some households with no recourse to public funds, and commit to maintaining universal infant free school meals recognising the many proven benefits this policy has for the youngest schoolchildren in England. There is a risk of harming young people’s futures unless there is some serious change and action taken.
