Thousands of children can get for a FREE school lunch - but do you know if your child is eligible? The autumn term starts next week but some parents may not be aware of changes affecting their sons and daughters. Some youngsters who qualified in July for a free school meal will no longer be eligible in September, and others who do qualify will now need to apply. But how do you find out if your little one is entitled to a school meal? HullLive reports that the process isn’t as complicated as it might seem, but you need to act fast with the new school term approaching. Here, we have everything you need to know about free school meals - and how to get them. Who is entitled to free school meals in the UK? Under the universal free school meal system, every child in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England and Wales is entitled to a free hot lunch. This is regardless of their household income and has been the case since 2014. This remains in place for September. Parents do not need to … [Read more...] about Here’s how to find out if your child is entitled to free school meals in 2018
Entitled to free school meals
Thousands of Peterborough children are losing their eligibility to free school meals
0 Have your say More than a quarter of the pupils in Peterborough who could claim free school meals five years ago are no longer eligible for them. Children can claim free school meals if their parents receive certain benefits. As the number of benefit claimants in England has dropped in recent years, thousands of children have lost their right to free meals at school lunchtimes.The Child Poverty Action Group warned that the drop risked leaving some children without their only hot meal of the day.Alison Garnham, the charity's chief executive said: “At a time when more children are growing up in poverty, fewer are getting the help they need with free school meals. Out of a class of 30 kids, nine are growing up in poverty and six of these have working parents."When parents earn just above the threshold for a free meal children are at risk of losing what might be their only hot balanced meal of the day."School meals should be free for all as an important part … [Read more...] about Thousands of Peterborough children are losing their eligibility to free school meals
The changes to free school meals that will hit people on Universal Credit
Free school meal entitlement is being reviewed with the introduction of Universal Credit and some families may lose out. The Welsh Government is proposing to introduce an earned income threshold of £7,400 for Universal Credit claimants who want to claim free school meals for their children. The cut-off is being suggested because unless changed, current generous interim measures mean nearly half of all pupils would be entitled to free school meals in Wales once Universal Credit is introduced. Universal Credit will replace a number of “in-work” benefits, such as Working Tax Credit, receipt of which would not currently result in eligibility for free school meals. The Welsh Government says interim measures it introduced in 2013 to widen entitlement to ensure no-one lost out while Universal Credit was being rolled out must end or eligibility would rocket from 16% of pupils in January 2017 to almost half. It is therefore revising eligibility criteria for free school meals in … [Read more...] about The changes to free school meals that will hit people on Universal Credit
Up to 100,000 children to miss out on free school meals because of government threshold, study finds
Up to 100,000 children from low-income families will lose out on free school meals because of the government’s method for setting the threshold at which pupils qualify, a new study has found, prompting accusations the Conservatives are “consciously” targeting poor children. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the decision to discount inflation when freezing the threshold for the next four years means thousands of children miss out. Ministers announced in February that the threshold for free school meals for children whose parents receive universal credit will be set at £7,400 a year before benefits are taken into account. This will be frozen until 2021-22, despite inflation currently being at 2.5 per cent. If the threshold was instead allowed to rise with inflation or earnings, between 80,000 and 100,000 more children respectively would be entitled to free school meals in 2021-22, the IFS said. Read more Children to lose free school meals under … [Read more...] about Up to 100,000 children to miss out on free school meals because of government threshold, study finds
Huge cuts are coming to free school meals
From April 1, a huge change is being introduced to who is and isn't eligible for free school meals. The shift under Universal Credit has prompted an outcry, with Labour warning the government is "pulling the rug" from under poor kids. Campaigners say that eventually, up to a million children who would have benefited will now get nothing. Yet Tories have accused Labour of "scaremongering" and insist no child will suddenly lose their hot lunch. So who's right - and more importantly, will it affect your children? Here's the policy explained. What has changed? Currently all families on Universal Credit can claim free school meals. This offer was designed as a transitional measure, to help people as they move to the six-in-one benefit. It's more generous than for the rest of the population, who get guaranteed free meals only in infant school - Year 1 and Year 2. But now, under a new law, children in Year 3 and above on Universal Credit in England will NOT normally be eligible if their … [Read more...] about Huge cuts are coming to free school meals