All primary school children in Westminster will be given free school meals (Chris Radburn/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)All primary school children in Westminster will be given free school meals to help families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Westminster council will spend £2.7million paying for the lunch of all state school children in Years Three to Six for the next 18 months.
Currently all children in Reception to Year Two are given free school meals funded by the Government but those in older year groups have to pay, unless their parents earn less than the threshold of £7,400 a year excluding benefits.
The Evening Standard’s School Hunger investigation revealed that London has the highest proportion of children in poverty who do not receive free school meals because they do not qualify. Our investigation highlighted the call by the Food Foundation and a coalition of charities for free school meals to be extended to all children living in families that rely on Universal Credit.
Westminster is the fifth London council to extend free meals to all primary year groups. Children in Newham, Islington, Southwark and Tower Hamlets already benefit from free school meals. The move will save families up to £550 per child a year, the council said on Wednesday.
The funding will begin in January and will be given directly to schools. Council leader Adam Hug said: “This £2.7 million investment will offer direct support to those who need it most and ensure that children don’t go hungry at school.”
A Westminster spokesman said that families who were previously eligible for free meals should continue to register so they receive supermarket vouchers and food in the school holidays, which are only available to those who meet the free school meals threshold.
