The threshold for Free School Meals (FSM) is shockingly low, so let’s raise it.

[PrimarilyParented]

on the back of another thread, please sign the petition to raise the threshold for free school meals. It’s currently £7,400 a year. Families are struggling and so are schools. Without qualifying for FSM there is no pupil premium funding for children (£985 per pupil in secondary and £1385 per primary school pupil www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium).

According to the government almost 2 million children are currently in receipt of FSM:
explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics

yet almost double that figure live in poverty with 3.9 million children in the uk living in poverty:
cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

so 1.9 million children in poverty don’t receive FSM and the subsequent pupil premium funding. Both schools and children are being short changed by the government.

AIBU to think government needs to raise the threshold for eligibility include all children living in poverty? If you don’t think IABU then please sign the petition.

petition.parliament.uk/signatures/128214988/signed

YANBU.

Personally I think the Universal FSM scheme for children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 should be extended to all school-aged children. It has yielded significant benefits in terms of lowering absence rates (particularly in FSM-eligible children), increasing attainment and development (children who are hungry don't learn well), and lowering obesity in Reception aged children.

It should absolutely be extended. I was so shocked to find out it was so low. I've signed.

Signed and bump

I'd tie it to the same value as the single person's allowance.

Thinking being that if a person earns so little that they are not required to pay tax, then they can reasonably be said to be in poverty. The government is literally saying they have no margin to spare. As a household income supporting a child, that would certainly be true.

And it is a measure that politicians update annually.

Wrong forum

Wales are doing this. Infants this year. Juniors over the next 2 years. Then thinkbits going to high school. Yep I agree, the rest of the UK should follow suit.

Excellent idea

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61853137.amp

It’s deliberately set low and this was a political choice. It used to be higher but the govt reduced the threshold before the pandemic. I used to be a school governor and remember budget wrangling to account for the lost PP money.

The Tories have wantonly destroyed education in this country, and with it the lives and chances of those who need it most.

It is horrible that so many will be in much increased poverty due to these fuel prices but nothing is being offered to shield children from the effects.

Signed

I get £3.01 a week in working tax credit and because of that £3.01 we cannot receive FSM for our 3 children;one of my childrens schools has a blanket ban on packed lunches and the food is expensive;it cost at least £15 a week.

Here in Scotland P1-5 all qualify for free lunches, aiming for P6/7 soon to be included.

I think the OP and petition need to be clearer! Is this petition just for England? In Scotland free school meals for all is already being rolled out. My eldest is P5 and has never had to pay.

@IkaBaar apologies for not specifying this but I guess this is England.

Sorry may be unpopular but for the sake of £3 up your hours then apply. On UC even if your earnings change much higher you still keep your entitlement for FSM.

Where do you suggest the funding for all these meals comes from? Food isn’t free. So you are either suggesting taxes be raised when people are already struggling or cutting the funding for something else. It’s all well and good saying children should be fed, and they should, but there needs to be a clear plan on how it’s funded.

And before anyone says “make big corporations pay more tax” you know that never happens. Corporations employ people specifically to find ways to reduce their tax burden and know every trick on the book. And that includes passing the cost to the consumers. They’ve been doing it for years and are not going to stop anytime soon.

@FarmerRefuted thats what we have in Scotland, free meals for p1-5. Children can’t learn on empty stomachs and the earlier years are crucial. It’s up to devolved administrations to decide what they spend their money from, unfortunately for England you don’t have an Assembly to do so. Be far better if each nation had an assembly and one for the UK that covered UK matters only e.g defence and I can’t think what else!

If you read the other thread the joke is earnings of £7000 per year. It is a joke and the total costs of school dinners is a lot. Where is the profit going? Is it really to cover the preparation costs and food or is it to pay the staff wages all together. Because school dinners is hardly M&S food and the portions are TINY especially for the older primary kids.

Should be free for all primary school children in England! Bloody disgrace

I think they should scrap free meals for KS1 and higher the threshold for FSM. That way the children who really need it will benefit.

I think they should scrap free meals for KS1 and higher the threshold for FSM. That way the children who really need it will benefit.

I agree. Plenty of families don't need free meals. And there are lots that really do but aren't entitled as the threshold is so low.

Completely agree. We don't need a blanket free school meals policy in this country. All we need is to ensure that the provision is there for those who need it. I'm shocked at how low the threshold is - it's appalling.

I also wonder if schools could look at the costs to make efficiencies and pass the savings onto parents. Not sure if there is money to be saved on the schools' part, but £15 per week seems an awful lot.

Schools have already cut back below the bare minimum. There are no efficency costs left to cut.

It most definitely should be raised. It is a complete joke. Who would have thought we live in one of the richest countries in the world.