to think a £7500 income cap on free school meals is a deathwish?

[thirdhill]

I'm so shocked to see the Children's Society analysis reported in most papers today about proposals to introduce a £7500 income cap on free school meals.

My initial reaction is this is sheer vindictiveness, taking away a meal from kids in dire need. Will the money spent on a daily lunch for a few children save our economy? Or perhaps we can be relied on to not care anymore? Or is there a wider picture nobody is reporting? My understanding is that the present income cap is £16k, which already seems a challenge for a family of say four.

Sarah Teather, the Minister, is a lib dem MP but this must tar both parties for many and seems an absolute deal breaker for mobile voters. Straw that broke the camel's back, death wish, etc.

Curious if anyone knows any more to this.

TIA

"I do not think those who start from no work and no home and who produce several children in a thoughless manner shoudl be allowed to be entitled to live as well as though who have planned and who are prepared to work."

so do you think their children should be left to go hungry day after day because of what their parents chose to do?

marriedinwhite please pop yourself down to roehampton or furzedown and talk to some people to see how real life actually unfurls itself

i think you are right MrsDV.

"I wish we had a society that was less entitled and prepared to take responsibiity for the individual actions within it."

Funnily enough, I wish we had a society that was less entitled and prepared to take responsibiity for the individual actions within it, too.

We could start with the big businesses that employ adults at minimum wage, on part-time or zero contract hours so that they have no option but to claim tax credits and benefits in order to make their wages up to a livable income to support a family. That would bring the Free School Meals budget down a bit, as well as that for a few other benefits.

If you read the OP link, this is not a government proposal. At present, people on certain benefits qualify for free school meals here.
When the new universal credit is introduced instead, there will have to be a consideration of how free school meals eligibility is decided - the £7,500 number is made up by the charity for a news story. No number or eligibility requirement has yet been decided by the govt.
yet more scaremongering before the facts are know to create a storm.

thank god for charity's such as these as with such pathetic government done-deal "consultation" periods there is no time to galvanize thought and action

So the govt is guilty for something a charity made up?

no but its not unlikely that they have wind of something in the offing so its good to have the proverbial heads up

If there was any evidence, they would have quoted it, or 'sources'. This is just another 'hit the govt as the local elections are next month' scare stories.

LOL

www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/tcs/fair_and_square_research_report_final.pdf is the link to the "Fair and Square" report by the Children's Society.

Page 14 "What does the future of free school meals look like" is where they discuss the 'potential impact on the income of a lone parent with three school-aged children with an earnings limit of £7500 to be placed on FSM entitlement".

It does seem to be them who have made up the figure of £7500 though they say (note 30 on the last page) that they have based it on indications from page 47 of the the govt's White Paper "Universal Credit: Welfare that Works:

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/universal-credit-full-document.pdf

The "Fair and Square" report seems to mostly be a call to use the implementation of Universal Credit to reform Free School Meals so that more children under the poverty line can receive it than currently do so - i.e. to extend it to children of low-income parents who would be claiming Universal Credit to top up their wages.

With the added effect of reducing the stigma of FSM entitlement by extending it to (low) waged as well as workless households.

If there's been scaremongering and making assumptions about where the £7500 figure has come from, it seems to be more from the Guardian and the Independent articles on the report, tbh.

Happymummyofone i remember asking you a question on a thread a few months ago and you never answered it
So i will ask again....Do you claim your Child Benefit?
HappyMummy no one chooses to be disabled.
You are showing the same attitude that it was ok to have towards black people before the Race Relations Act 1976.
No one who showed racism back then thought of themselves as racist even though they were.
And no one like you thinks that they are disablist now even though they are.Many people pre 1976 didnt think that they were being racist because it wasnt enshrined in law.
And many disablists like you think that they arent disablist now because it isnt enshrined in law. Because disabilism isnt seen in the same context as racism even though it should be. Because your comments upthread directed at the poster who claims Carers Allowance were disabilist. disability discrimination by association.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9031084/Healthy-appetite-for-moaning-despite-MPs-5.8m-meal-deal.html

Greedy, greedy pigs.

Lets feed the children that are suffering under this government, not the selfish politicians that feel hard done by due to 'soggy chips' ahhhh bless them.

Specifically, the Guardian report says this:

"In a report entitled Fair and Square, the charity says the proposed universal credit system, which comes into force in October 2013, will stop paying for certain benefits if a household earns more than £7,500."

while the Fair and Square report actually just uses the £7500 as an example (unless they do know something we don't about what threshold figures the govt. is actually planning to use.)

That is just plain wrong. Sick bastards whoevers idea it is.

Surely we all have a responsibility to feed our own kids. All this drama about kids going hungry - send sandwiches or pasta if the school meals are expensive.

I have never understoody why meals and snacks are not provided at no cost for all school children. It would cut down on the risks for those with food allergies.

As to budget constraints, I would like to see MP's take a haircut with their benefits before they ask their constituents and their children do to so. In our house we go without so our DD and her future siblings don't/won't have to. It is hypocritical to ask others to take a hit on their standard of living without taking a cut yourself. Not looking after the disabled and children lowers my living standard.

oh look another one that cant see past the end of their own nose.

Of course its a ridicuous idea. The very poor will suffer.

Yes and let them eat cake whilst they are at it.

This is the quote from psammyad's link:

We will replace the current rules, which base entitlement on receipt of certain benefits, to a simpler and fairer system that bases entitlement on an income or earnings threshold. We, along with the other relevant government departments, will consider the appropriate level for these thresholds, but will aim to ensure that the benefits are awarded to broadly the same number of people as currently, whilst looking to graduate the thresholds to ensure individuals do not have a number of passported benefits reduced at the same time.

therefore any suggestions that many will lose out is counter to govt published documentation

"We, along with the other relevant government departments, will consider the appropriate level for these thresholds, but will aim to ensure that the benefits are awarded to broadly the same number of people as currently, whilst looking to graduate the thresholds to ensure individuals do not have a number of passported benefits reduced at the same time."

doh, this could easily mean that they the govt. will select that the threshold could be just for those over £70,000 and still give out the same amount. IT SAYS NOTHING

Free school meals is one of the measures used to work out the budget allocated to a school - schools with more children on free school meals get a bigger budget to meet the educational needs. Will fewer school meals mean lower school budgets and therefore less resources for all children? Not ok.

It's all a bit really.

In happier news: the Children's Society also claims that 91% of people believe that free school meals should be available to all children in poverty, including those in working families. (based on a poll of 1000 people in Feb 2012 - guess we're lucky they didn't poll too many mumsnetters then, there's some right frothers on here who wouldn't agree with that ).

what stealthpolar said

whatever social issues we have, its not fair in any way shape or form