Changes to free school meal eligibility…

I disagree with it. 90% of parents earning less than 7k when their child starts school aren't going to become much better off in the next few years while their child is at school. Most will just work more hours now their child is at school which will easily take them over 7k.

The threshold used to be earning 16k before they changed it to 7.4k makes much more sense to change it back to 16k and do away with everyone getting free meals from reception to year 2, I mean what is the point in that?

People are missing the mark with £7400 , that won't be the household income, that's individual income without any benefits, someone earning less than £7400 will be entitled to various elements of universal credit depending on circumstances

It’s 3 years… reception, yr 1 and yr 2. Not sure how it works in Scotland though where there is no Yr R

It's Primary 1 to Primary 5 in Scotland

Not just administrative, financial too, as access to online checking is only available by paying for it if the local authority has washed their hands of the whole school meals system (which they have in my area).

Absolutely. The current system is the worst of both worlds and I actually think it’s resulting in all kids eating lower quality and less nutritious food than they would under a means tested system.

I don't agree or disagree, but I think there's a chance it'll end up costing more overall.

The reason it was continued to the end of the schooling period was because people who are eligible are more likely to become eligible again. Many folks earning less than 8k are in insecure jobs. They're not likely to suddenly start earning 50k.

The cost of repeatedly checking and means testing applications will be significant, especially in areas where low paid and unstable work is common.

You could have donated what you would have paid for school lunches to the school for those things. My DC is in reception so gets free school meals and I pay extra money when any donations are asked for. Lots of parents do, it’s how our school pays for lots of the extras.

Agree with this. Always on these kind of threads there appears the myth of the 'nutritious hot meal' and kids using cutlery. The reality is that the majority of schools serve crap beige rubbish - because it's cheap.

Source: my kids, who were and are eligible for FSM because I was poor for a while. Even when money was tight, though, they took packed lunches, because the school offering was so dire. It's a huge waste - either fund it properly to allow schools to serve actual balanced meals or don't bother at all.

It was mad seeing parents who earnt more than I do, with nicer cars than I have and I would have to arrange for them to have supermarket vouchers in the holidays as in out LA they were also entitled to £10 per week per child over holiday. We used to do Sainsbury’s as there was one walking distance to most families in the area and one mum asked if I could get her Waitrose vouchers instead 😂

So not a change in eligibility, only that people won’t continue receiving the free meals if their income has increased past the threshold?
Fair enough

I’d be interested to hear from someone who disagrees but who understand we are not discussing a change of threshold but a change in continued eligibility.

I don’t know how I feel about this. One of DS’s Freinds was on free school meals all the way through because his Mum and Dad split before he started school. Once both he and his Sibling were both in school the Mum started to work again and ended up as a Deputy Head in a local primary.

Under the current system her DC got free school meals throughout which seems odd although possibly cheaper to administer.

What woukd possible be cheaper is to give all DC free school meals. France seem to do this but school days are less, I think tgat thru usually do 4?

Completely agree. It’s mad to me that my infant school kids get free school meals when they don’t need it. I’d prefer to pay for them. And £7400 is a horribly low figure to have to get down to before being eligible. I also think the figure should be slightly higher the more children you have. A family with 1 child can have a higher standard of living on a lower figure than a family with 4

I had no idea that happened, of course it needs to be changed so people aren’t eligible once over the threshold.

It’s 3 years… reception, yr 1 and yr 2. Not sure how it works in Scotland though where there is no Yr R

I don’t see the issue with removing permanent entitlement. It’s ridiculous that you could start earning £100k, or win the lottery, and still
be eligible for FSM because you were once having a hard time. The money should go where it’s needed.

At the same time I think universal free lunches for infants should be scrapped and a much higher quality meal funded for those who actually need it. I live in a very MC area where I’m certain that 95% of parents could afford their children’s lunches with no issue, myself included. Yet all the kids get fed a really crappy school lunch which seems to be a tiny portion of fish fingers, pizza or some other junk followed by a sugary dessert. Attempting to get the kids to take a healthier packed lunch is hard work because they feel the odd one out and want the crap the school is serving. I would much, much rather that twice the amount per head is spent on something filling and nutritious for kids that need it and the rest of us can either pay for the same or send in lunch.

@Fedupwiththecuts - could you explain how this change will impact on pupil premium, please? If I'm correct, a pupil who was eligible for free school meals in the last 6 years currently gets pupil premium for the school. Will this continue (obviously with reduced numbers of pupils eligible)? There's going to be an impact on low-income families of not getting the FSM but also on school budgets particularly in areas of high deprivation.

I do agree the way FSM is applied is slightly strange given all the clamp downs on benefits in recent years. My child was eligible for it years ago (no income due to me being a student). I've never had to reapply and now years later I'm on a good salary and it's the money continues to be automatically credited to their school account.

I'm not paying currently for my year 2 child's lunches, but maybe I'm actually racking up a mega bill with the school...!

I do think there are benefits to society for children that age to sit down and eat a meal at a table with cutlery. Unfortunately I know children who have started school never having done that.

It's 3 years isn't it - reception and then years 1 and 2? I don't understand it all either. I can't see any logical reason to fund it for only those years, but I also thinking funding it universally at all is a bit mad. Obviously it's nice for me not having to pay for DS's lunches until next year, but it's not a good use of state money.

It's not a new thing to decide to take the transitional protection away - the conservatives had set it to end a few years ago and kept on extending it at the very last moment (I won a small informal bet last year because I'd said if it's extended again, it'll mean there's going to be an election).

Everybody who receives it now will still receive it until the end of their current phase of schooling, but they will have to reapply (and might not be eligible) if they're moving up to secondary in September.

The main annoyance is that not all councils assist with establishing eligibility, which places the burden squarely upon schools and parents (as the only automatic checking facility is something the school has to pay for).

No one is asking people to live in 7400k a year, it’s the limit on top of benefits ffs. So housing benefit, universal credit whatever else. Not exactly gonna be making someone rolling in it but they aren’t expected to live pay rent and bills and feed their kids on 7.4k

where I work the lowest income families normally end up as single parent families who are new to the country and they do get help with uniform costs, vouchers for food in holidays, activity clubs etc I don’t think they’re the ones this proposal is talking about, they genuinely need the free school meals

For various reasons my daughter was entitled at the start of primay school, was protected by the transitional protection when she started secondary and despite this change she will carry on being entitled all the way through secondary because our council (maybe all) says they stay eligible until they finish the phase of education they are in despite any changes of circumstances and yes I do earn over now.

I think it's ridiculous that people still got it even after their circumstances changed.

My friend got free school meals for her kids when one was in secondary school and one was in primary school. At the time her marriage had broken up and she wasn't working.

Fast forward 6 years, she owns her own house outright, has a good job, had a 3rd child that is in primary school and still gets free school meals!