PRESS RELEASE : Mayor announces every London primary schoolchild to receive free school meals [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Mayor of London on 20 February 2023.

• Mayor proposes to provide one-off £130m to ensure all primary schoolchildren in the capital can receive free school meals for the 2023/2024 academic year
• Emergency funding would help around 270,000 primary school children and save families in London around £440 per child across the year
• Given lack of Government help, Mayor steps in to support families for the next year due to the impact of the spiralling cost of living

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced an historic £130m emergency scheme to help families with the spiralling cost of living by ensuring that every primary schoolchild in London will receive free school meals in the next academic year.

The Mayor is stepping in with the one-off proposal to ensure that healthy free school meals are universally available to all primary school pupils for one year from September due to the extreme pressures currently facing households across the capital.

The unprecedented move will help around 270,000 primary school children and save families around £440 per child across the year.

Sadiq – who received free school meals as a child – has repeatedly called on the Government to make the meals available to all as research has shown that hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren live in poverty but do not receive them due to the Government’s restrictive eligibility criteria and lack of universal provision. Currently a household on universal credit must earn less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits), regardless of the number of children in the family, to be eligible. This means that many children from working families in poverty aren’t entitled to free school meals.

Given the Government’s inaction, and the soaring cost of living hitting London’s families particularly hard, the Mayor has now proposed a plan to make the meals available – on a universal basis – to all of the capital’s primary schoolchildren for one full school year.

As well as saving families hundreds of pounds per child, making free school meals available to all helps reduce the stigma that can be associated with being singled out as low income, therefore boosting take-up among families who need them most. The meals are also good for children’s health as they may be the child’s main source of hot, nutritious food. By ensuring they don’t go hungry, children are better equipped to learn.

Sadiq made the announcement of the emergency funding today as he visited his old school Fircroft Primary, in Tooting. This is one-off funding from additional business rates income. Sadiq is clear that he is only able to provide help that should be coming from the Government for one year.

This landmark intervention is the latest in a long line of commitments from the Mayor to help Londoners navigate the cost of living crisis. As well as investing £3.46bn into building the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need, the Mayor is currently spending more than £80m to help those struggling with the rising cost of living, including more than £50m to tackle fuel poverty through the Mayor’s Warmer Homes programme and energy advice services, more than £20m to improve security for private renters and house Londoners who are rough sleeping or homeless, more than £5m to connect Londoners with welfare advice, and £400,000 to tackle food insecurity. He is spending £400m on skills and employment programmes to support Londoners to find more secure work.

The Mayor is determined to make London the best place to grow up and has committed to supporting young Londoners and has invested £70m over three years through the Young Londoners Fund which created positive opportunities for over 140,000 disadvantaged young Londoners and has so far invested over £7m in providing quality mentoring opportunities to 30,000 disadvantaged young people through the New Deal for Young People, on course to reach 100,000 by end of 2024. He has also protected free travel for under 18s when the Government withdrew funding, and partnered with The London Marathon Charitable Trust and Sport England, and strategic partners London Sport and London Marathon Events to launch a £17m fund to support underserved young Londoners through the power of sport and physical activity, and helped introduce more than 500 School Streets to help reduce toxic air pollution, carbon emissions and road danger for young children.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The cost of living crisis means families and children across our city are in desperate need of additional support. I have repeatedly urged the Government to provide free school meals to help already stretched families, but they have simply failed to act.

“This is why I’m stepping forward with an emergency £130m scheme that will ensure every single primary pupil in the capital receives free school meals. This will save families hundreds of pounds over the year, ensuring parents aren’t worrying about how they’re going to feed their children. It will also guarantee every primary school student a healthy, nutritious meal – meaning they don’t go hungry in the classroom and can better concentrate on their studies.

“I know from personal experience that free school meals are a lifeline. My siblings and I depended on them to eat while at school and my parents relied on them to give our family a little extra breathing room financially. The difference they can make to children who are at risk of going hungry – and to families who are struggling to make ends meet – is truly game-changing.

“Supporting London’s families through this cost of living crisis and helping ensure our children are properly fed is vital as we continue striving to build a better London for everyone – a city that is fairer, safer and more prosperous for all.”

The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, said: “London’s children face some of the highest levels of deprivation anywhere in the country. We cannot consider ourselves a modern and progressive society if the most vulnerable among us are forced to go without basic food and nourishment. School should be a place where children can learn and grow; not worry about where their next hot meal is going to come from. As Londoners continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis, the prospect of saving hundreds of pounds will be welcome news to the capital’s families.”

Chef Tom Kerridge said: “All children deserve access to healthy, nutritious food and, at a particularly difficult time for many households and families, I’m pleased to lend my support to the Mayor’s initiative to ensure every primary school child in London has access to free school meals.”

Victoria Benson, CE of Gingerbread, the single parent charity, said: “The cost of living crisis has been brutal for single parents and has meant that children have gone without basic essentials because household budgets have been stretched beyond breaking point. We have heard from so many single parents that they have simply been unable to afford the huge price increases which we have seen over the past year with the result that many of them, or their children, have had to go without food.  It will be a huge relief to many parents that their child will now be fed at school and we welcome the Mayor’s free school meals initiative and hope it will mean fewer children in London will experience hunger.”

Anna Taylor, Executive Director, The Food Foundation, said: “We applaud London’s Mayor for taking timely action to support families fighting the cost of living by ensuring every primary school pupil gets a nutritious lunch, no matter their background. This is a monumental step forward for safeguarding children’s diets, well-being and learning across the capital. However, outside of London, hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty still don’t qualify for a Free School Meal. Central Government must now honour its levelling up commitment by investing in Free School Meal expansion for every community in the upcoming budget. We know this policy has resounding support in every corner of the UK.”

Barbara Crowther of the Children’s Food Campaign said: “This is utterly delicious news! We applaud the Mayor for announcing this vital nutritional safety net for every single primary school child in London for the coming academic year. We know a healthy meal is fuel for both brain and body, so that our children can concentrate, play and learn.

“However, healthy school food for all must not just be an emergency measure, it should be a core part of a fully inclusive education system for the long term. It would be a sound investment, as research shows that every £1 invested in healthy school meals could deliver £1.71 in increased educational outcomes, better health and longer-term economic benefits. So our national Government also needs to step up and make school food for all a permanent part of our education system and the future prosperity of the nation.”

Kevin Courtney, Joint Gen Sec, National Education Union, said: “This announcement is a much-needed lifeline families experiencing hardship following a decade of economic mismanagement from the Government. Poverty has a profound impact on students’ attainment and educational outcomes, and the cost-of-living crisis is leading to a devastating fall in living standards for millions, forcing more families into poverty and hardship.

“Free school meals must be a central part of any attempt to raise attainment, particularly for the least well-off, and make society fairer for everyone. The best way to achieve this is by offering free school meals to every child in primary school. Children who have access to a healthy, hot meal, every day, are better able to focus, connect with their peers and build bright futures. Making this access universal removes the stigma and ensures all children get the support they need to thrive.

“The Mayor’s announcement will help families to navigate the cost-of-living crisis, will ensure that all children are fed during the school day, and will allow schools to best support their communities. The Government must now end its inaction and commit to funding free school meals for all in primary across the rest of the country, and long term.”

Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of The Felix Project, said: “We know the need among parents is incredibly high, The Felix Project provides over 170 primary schools with surplus food and we currently have more than 130 on our waiting list. The school food banks are a huge help to parents, particularly for those who do not qualify for free school meals but are still really struggling with the high costs of feeding their children throughout the day. We welcome this scheme and the positive impact it will have on both parents’ finances and the children themselves.”

Matthew Bolton, Executive Director of Citizens UK said: “This will be welcomed as fantastic news by tens of thousands of Londoners suffering in this cost of living crisis and the 100 schools involved in London Citizens. We know from our campaign to ensure free school meals to students whose parents are subject to No Recourse to Public Funds, that vulnerable people fall through the net of the current system and children go hungry. This change will ensure all children in London get that hot meal they need and that there is no additional stigma attached to the injustice of low income.”

Luke Bridges, Headteacher, All Saints Primary School, London Citizens said: “This is great news for London schools. A nutritious school meal ensures children are healthy and ready for learning. Children and families will be delighted to hear that school meals will be funded for all primary pupils. It will help combat both a health problem and the cost of living crisis.”

Stephanie Slater, Founder/Chief Executive of School Food Matters, said: “This wonderful news will bring relief to millions of families and schools across London. Too many children have been missing out on the nutrition they need to thrive, due to restrictive eligibility criteria and an onerous application process. Thanks to the vision of London’s Mayor, from September every primary school child in the capital will have a hot, healthy school meal.

“Universal provision has been shown to improve children’s health and attainment, as well as reducing inequalities, putting money back into families’ pockets and boosting the economy. We hope the government will follow London’s lead and expand free school meals to more children nationwide, but for now three cheers for the Mayor!”

Dame Emma Thompson said: “This initiative could not be more welcome or more timely. The fact that it is needed at all is testament to the damaging policies of the last 20 years. It is therefore essential that during this year we fight for the right of our children to a proper meal at school, un-stigmatised by the free school meals label which causes so much distress.”

Cllr Claire Holland, Leader of Lambeth Council said: “The cost of living crisis is hitting families hard. Londoners are struggling to make ends meet with many skipping meals and choosing between eating or heating their homes.

“In response to the cost of living crisis, Labour councils in London have been calling for long term funding from the government for universal free school meals to ensure no child goes hungry. Providing children with healthy free school meals not only alleviates financial pressures on families but also enables children to learn and thrive.

“Today’s commitment from the Mayor of London to fund meals for the next year is a welcome one which will go towards relieving pressure on families already struggling with rising costs. However, in order to provide reassurance to families it is critical that the government commit to provide long term funding to ensure no child goes hungry.”

Cllr Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark Council said: “As one of the first councils to guarantee a hot, nutritious meal at lunchtime for all primary school children, we know how life-changing they are. The Mayor’s pledge to extend them to all primary children across London for the next year will be a lifeline for families who are being hit hard by the cost of living crisis.

“We introduced them in Southwark because we saw how many children were falling through the gaps and the toll it was having on their learning and health. It’s been a huge success, reducing obesity levels among our young people, helping them engage in learning, and boosting academic performance. We will be using the opportunity of this investment from the Mayor of London to tackle hunger in our secondary schools.

“What the Government needs to do is all too clear: extend free school meals to all primary school children, like we have done in Southwark and the Mayor plans to do across London.”