Fear that children are still missing out on vital free school meals
Praxis is sounding the alarm over the fact that thousands of children living in deep poverty might be missing out on free school meals that they are entitled to.
A Government policy change in April 2022 means that children living in poverty whose families are otherwise cut off from the welfare safety net because of their immigration status are now, in theory, eligible for free school meals.
But problems with the way this change is being implemented, including concerns about data-sharing with the Home Office, mean that in practice many children are still missing out, even as rising costs pile pressure on families.
An estimated 2 million people in the UK don’t have access to the welfare safety net because of conditions placed on their immigration status (known as the No Recourse to Public Funds policy, or NRPF). Until recently, this included preventing children from accessing free school meals even if their families were facing poverty or crisis.
After years of campaigning by charities, including Praxis, in April 2022 the Department for Education made free school meals permanently available to families affected by this policy who meet the eligibility criteria. Critically, this includes children whose families may have irregular immigration status (referred to by some as “undocumented.”)
This was a very welcome decision that should allow thousands of children living in poverty to access one nutritious meal a day. This change also allows schools to get further funding through the pupil premium to support the most disadvantaged children.
Yet, five months after the announcement, schools and parents appear largely unaware of this change, and data on uptake is scarce. The Department’s main information page on Free School Meals makes no mention of children affected by NRPF, meaning that a casual reader might assume that these children are still excluded.
Without clear communication on the policy change, as children return to school they might be missing out on free school meals - just as their families are shouldering the cost-of-living crisis.
More problematically, to access free school meals for their children, families have to declare their immigration status – even if they currently lack status. As the Department for Education has not unequivocally ruled out passing on this information to the Home Office – and as some Local Authorities have embedded Home Office officials – many parents will decide that applying for free school meals is simply too risky. This means that children will continue to go hungry.
At Praxis we are calling on the Department for Education to the obstacles families are facing in accessing free school meals for their children, so they can escape hunger, by:
Publicly committing to a data-sharing firewall with the Home Office;
Investing in an information campaign so that schools, local authorities and families know how to access free school meals;
Find out more in our briefing here.