Mayor of London funds free school meals

[Mdarby89]

So relieved to see the Mayor is funding emergency free school meals for all primary school aged kids in London for a year, saving families around £440 per child. Much needed following gvmnts failure to act at this incredibly difficult time.

Free school meals: London's mayor launches £130m scheme for primary pupils
Free school meals for all primary school pupils in London, says Mayor
Free meals extended to all London primary school children for a year

Good!

And for all the other areas of the country where families are struggling?

No

You could petition your mayor or local MP?

Don't agree:

• it's not a good way to use funds. Many, like me, can easily afford school lunch so don't want it subsidised (although hopefully you can opt out?)
• surely hugely costly since so many have food allergies/dislikes and some, due to religion won't eat certain food
• Will food options be restricted due to religious beliefs? - if so this is wrong
• some people, like me, don't want their children to eat school meals/would prefer to send a packed lunch in
• I would prefer individuals to have enough money to provide their own lunches
• when is this providing food children going to stop - it'll be tea/dinner next with parents taking no responsibility for their children

Yes, he’s giving kids a free lunch. Then charging their parents £15 a day to pick them up with the new ULEZ charge. This will also apply to cancer patients travelling outside the ULEZ zone to the cancer hospital at Marsden. He is a prize arsehole.

It's great news to hear that the Mayor of London is funding free school meals for primary school children in the capital. Access to nutritious food is a fundamental right, and no child should have to go hungry due to financial constraints.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the severity of food poverty across the UK, with many families struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table. Providing free school meals is an important step towards addressing this issue and ensuring that all children have access to the basic necessities they need to thrive.

I thought for a moment you meant he was funding it personally.

Yes, he’s giving kids a free lunch.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Someone somewhere is paying for it. Where is the money coming from, and what would it otherwise have been spent on?

The whole point is to stop poverty leading to poverty.

Hungry children = limited capacity for learning = limited prospects in adulthood

Basic needs met (including well fed) = greater capacity for learning = reduced risk of poverty in adulthood (+ their future children)

Obviously hunger is only 1 of many basic needs that needs to be met for successful learning but it's a start.

If more government policies were based on prevention rather than sticking plasters, we would be in a much better position as a country.

I live in London and will benefit from the policy, but I don't agree with it. We can afford to pay and don't need other taxpayers to subsidise my dd's lunch. I completely agree that the current threshold for universal free school meals is far too low - households need an income of £7,400 per household to qualify - and there must be many many households who earn above that threshold who are struggling. But why make it a universal benefit which will benefit absolutely everyone rather than just raising the threshold. I suspect the answer is that it's administratively more efficient (and therefore cheaper) to do so, but it just seems like a waste and bad targeting of resources.

I would rather this money is spent on children and young children in low income families whose income is just above the current threshold for FSMs. While I appreciate universal benefits such as free infant meals can facilitate all children sitting down together to eat a nutritious meal, the fact is other disadvantaged children are going without while children in high income families receive this benefit. Why would you pay for lunch for a Yr 6 child in a high income household, when a Yr 7 child in a low income household but just above the FSM threshold goes without?

I agree with all of this.

I got a great solution for that…. Ready???
don’t vote for right wing politicians.

Council tax payers in London. It's a good idea, but let's not run away with the idea that it's 'free.'

@cosmiccosmos when is this providing food children going to stop yesterday as far as I am concerned only children of well of parents like ourselves such have the luxury of food.

Is everyone aware that this isn't fully funded?? Schools will not be getting the full cost of these meals.

The school my kids go to will have a shortfall of £14,000 which will have to come out of other areas of the budget. Another local school doesn't have a large enough kitchen to provide cooked school dinners if all the kids have them. They need to fund new equipment and staff which is not funded AT ALL.

This is nothing more than a manipulative vote winner at the cost of the children's education as cuts will need to be made in other areas for schools to provide the meals.

Metropolitan areas have relatively low council tax because it is easier to administer services in built up areas. So actually he is spending the money people in London save by living close together.

That's appalling. I'd rather people who can afford to pay do so, this shouldn't be coming out of the school budget.