1.3m kids in families on universal credit who don’t qualify for free school meals: how is Merseyside affected?

According to a report from Child Poverty Action Group and Covid Realities shows that 36% (about 1 million) of all school-aged children in poverty in the UK are not entitled to a free meal at school. The analysis shows that despite a rise in the number of children claiming FSMs between March 2020 and March 2021, restrictive eligibility criteria still prevent many in poverty from accessing any form of free school meal provision.

Households must earn less than £7,400 to be eligible for free school meals

Households on universal credit in England and Wales must earn less than £7,400 a year to be eligible for free school meals, regardless of the number of children in the family. This low limit on income means that many children from working families are in poverty but unable to access free school meals.

“It should be universal free school meals”

Food campaigner Lucy Antal said, "It should be universal free school meals. That way, you take away the stigma, you make sure everybody is fed, and it means that every child because not every child, even if they are middle-class and from money, necessarily gets a good nutritious meal."

“We could do with a councillor whose sole focus is food”

Lucy continued, "We need to emphasise to our local council that we could do with a councillor whose sole focus is food. Why is it not seen as a more important part of the city portfolio? To concentrate on where food is coming from, how it's getting distributed, how it's being managed and all that side of it. Very few councils across the whole of Britain have got anybody that focuses on food."

Free School Meals to everyone on universal credit would cost £700 million

Child Poverty Action Group and Covid Realities participants are making an urgent call to extend means-tested Free School Meals to everyone on universal credit or equivalent benefits, which, it estimates, would cost £700 million per year.

Now hundreds of thousands of pounds have been made available for struggling families in Knowsley as the cost of living crisis begins to bite.

Knowsley Council announced it is ploughing over £400k into its "better together fund", topping up £1.9 million in support from the government to be spent over winter to help people struggling amid spiralling costs.

The council has now ploughed over £3.4m into its hardship fund to support residents with school uniforms, the creation of warm hubs and housing support.