Crucial data revealing how many eligible children in England are not receiving free school meals because they are not registered has not been collected for 12 years.
This means that thousands could be missing out, in addition to an estimated 900,000 children who are living in poverty but are not classed as eligible.
Government figures for the number of eligible children not receiving free school meals were last centrally collected in 2013.
Children who are eligible for free school meals may still not be accessing them because they have not been registered for the scheme.
A sharp rise in the number of children receiving free school meals in areas where auto-enrolment has been introduced suggests that the current system is failing to reach everyone.
Auto-enrolment is a process that uses data to identify children who may be eligible for free school meals.
For example, auto-enrolment in Durham resulted in nearly 2,500 more eligible children gaining access to free school meals, which also led to a £3m boost in Pupil Premium to the local council.
England
To be eligible for free school meals, a household on universal credit in England must earn less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits), regardless of the number of children in the family.
This low threshold means that many children from working families in poverty aren’t entitled to free school meals, despite being unable to meet the costs.
Scotland
In Scotland, children in primary 1 to 5 receive free school meals at schools funded by the Scottish Government or run by their local council. This is regardless of family circumstances.
Children in other school years may also be eligible, but applications are require.
Wales
In Wales, children may be eligible for free school meals if their parents receive certain benefits. These include income support and jobseeker’s allowance.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, children are eligible for free school meals if their family receives certain benefits or if they have a special educational need. These include universal credit and jobseeker’s allowance.
Stephen Morgan, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Education, admitted in response to a question from the Liberal Democrats that his department “has not formally assessed” the number of children who are eligible for free school meals but not receiving it.
He said that the last review, conducted in 2013, suggested that 89 per cent of those eligible were registered for free school meals.
Morgan said that he “encourage[d] all eligible families to take their entitlement up” and “join the 2.1 million pupils currently registered”.
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion on the Children Wellbeing and Schools’ Bill to auto-enrol eligible children for free school meals.
Munira Wilson MP, the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, said: “No child should go hungry in our country.
“I’ve heard from parents in my constituency who are giving up prescriptions so that they can afford to feed their children – with hundreds of thousands of families in poverty struggling to scrape together enough to send their children to school with a meal.
“It’s unbelievable that Mr Morgan thinks that ‘encouragement’ is all that’s needed to fix free school meals uptake in this country. He’s wrong – we need proper reform to the system, so that eligible children automatically get the food they need.
“That’s why we’ve tabled an amendment to auto-enrol eligible kids to receive free school meals – and why we’ll be urging MPs of all stripes to back my amendment.”
Lib Dems to call for free school meals for all children in poverty
Read MoreKate Anstey, Child Poverty Action Group’s head of education policy, said: “Auto-enrolment schemes find children who are entitled to free school meals but not registered for them, helping families to access the support they need.
“Rolling out auto-enrolment schemes on a national scale is a vital first step to helping more children get the free school meal they’re entitled to.
A separate issue that may stop children accessing the programme when they should is strict eligibility requirements. The Child Poverty Action Group also estimated last summer that up to 900,000 children in poverty may not be receiving free school meals because they don’t qualify.
Under national schemes in England, universal free school meals are only provided to children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2. They are means-tested from Year 3 onwards and for a family on universal credit to qualify, their combined household income must be £7,400 or less excluding benefit payments.
The Child Poverty Action Group has called on politicians to widen the eligibility criteria.
Anstey added: “Unless government also expands the free school meals eligibility criteria, hundreds of thousands of kids will continue to go hungry at lunch time.”
Morgan also said in response to a Lib Dem question on the subject that his department has not formally assessed the number of children who would be eligible for free school meals had the eligibility threshold for households on Universal Credit increase in line with inflation, but that the Government keeps its approach to free school meals under review.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are determined to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, and we have already taken action to tackle the challenges felt by families who are struggling.
“We have tripled our investment in breakfast clubs to over £30m, with delivery of free meals and childcare to begin in up to 750 schools from as early as April.
“The provision of free school meals to our most disadvantaged children also plays an important role – which is why, despite taking tough decisions to fix the foundations of the economy, we will continue to fund free lunches for over three million pupils.
“As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach under review.”
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