to think school is commiting benefit fraud?

[LacyLeggins]

my dcs school had a welcome to reception meeting today. me and a few other parents mentioned that our dc would be having packed lunches due to the lack of healthy food available from the schools menu - hotdogs, nuggets, waffles etc.

when i bought this up with the head she said that it was fine, however if im entitled to free school meals could i still please claim for them, as the money can go towards the schools expenses. she then went on to announce this to the rest of parents.

AIBU to think this is wrong and she, as a head teacher, should not be encouraging frauding the government?!

Lots of data is based on this information. She asked you to claim if you are entitled not to claim if you're not. It's not about the school getting extra lunches in (fgs, it's a much bigger issue than that. 'Frauding the government' lol.

When you pay for school meals, you only pay for meals taken, so I'd imagine it's the same for the school they only get paid for meals taken.

I think it's to do with claiming your entitlement so it's down on record THEN if a meal is taken they get paid for it but not before. But they will get additional funding depending on the numbers eligible.

I don't see your issue tbh.

lol @ committing benefit fraud.

I put down my entitlement for free school meals almost a year before I started claiming - as the school asked that everyone that was entitled to them ticked the box even if they didn't take them up.

Good lord, YABU. Nobody is trying to cheat the benefit system here. Perhaps the head could have explained better, though.

besides in my experience you'd have a bloody hard job actually claiming them if you're not entitled to them.

They (council) stopped my free school meals as they claimed I was no longer entitled.

Which was news to me as apart from going from a single IS claim to a joint ESA/JSA claim my circumstances hadn't changed at all

Our primary would then have a little leeway in extra food, which went to 3 pathetic siblings who came with empty lunchboxes most days.