Hundreds of thousands of eligible children in England, Wales and Scotland were not receiving the free lunch they were entitled to last year.
Free school meals should be expanded to cover all children to combat stigma, campaigners say, as we reveal hundreds of thousands of eligible children missed out on free lunches across Britain last year.
Almost a quarter (24.5%) of the 1.9 million children in Year 3 and above in England known to be eligible for free school meals did not receive them according to Department for Education data collected during a school census day for 2021/22. That would mean 465,000 were missing out – although the department’s data does not account for eligible children who were absent from school and not needing a meal on census day.
There were also tens of thousands of eligible children not getting the free meals they are entitled to across Scotland and Wales.
Free school meals are generally limited to families receiving benefits, and infant school children. But the Child Poverty Action Group says the current system can leave families feeling stigmatised,…
