The numbers behind London’s free school lunch scheme

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Primary school pupils across London head back to class this week with the promise of a year’s worth of free school meals.

Citing rising costs of living and inaction by the national government, London mayor Sadiq Khan announced in February a one-year initiative to make free meals available to every primary school pupil in London starting in the autumn.

The mayor’s office says the £135mn programme will save parents upwards of £440 per child. 

The initiative has been welcomed by food campaigners and parents as largely beneficial, as it promises to reduce health inequalities and help students do better in school.

Campaigners say London’s move throws down a gauntlet to Westminster to do something similar in the rest of the country.

“It’s just not fair that children in schools outside London cannot access the good nutrition they need to thrive,” said Stephanie Slater, founder and chief executive at School Food Matters, a charity advocating for healthy food access in schools. She urged the government to “extend free school meals to all and put children’s health first”.

But the scheme already faces obstacles, with charges of inadequate funding and a relatively speedy rollout giving little time to iron out difficulties.

Which children will get free meals?

In England, the children of families whose household income falls below £7,400 are already eligible for free school meals. The government also provides funding for free school meals for all pupils up to Year 2 (aged six to seven).

But this new initiative in London would extend that to every primary school-aged child in the capital — an additional 287,000 pupils.

This comes as nearly a quarter of UK households with children report experiencing food insecurity, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by the Food Foundation.

This new programme will at least give London parents some relief. Sharon Graham is a single parent of three who has worked as a teaching assistant for 17 years in a primary school in Wandsworth.

When school meals became too expensive at £13.75 per week per child, she switched to packed lunches — on a tight budget week, she would spend £5 to £8 for a week of lunches for her son. She and her son in Year 6 are excited for this new scheme.

“I’m absolutely going to put him straight into the school dinners because that’s zero cost for me,” Graham said. “And he feels more sociable talking and eating with his friends that are also on school dinners.”

Is it all paid for?

The mayor’s initiative is offering funding of £2.65 per meal. This is higher than the £2.53 offered by the government’s universal infant free school meals programme this academic year, but that number hasn’t kept up with inflation in the nine years since its inception.

Both numbers pale in comparison to what some caterers say it costs them to provide a meal. Michael Hales, managing director at Juniper Ventures, a local authority trading company in Newham, said that to meet national food standards and pay a London living wage, each primary school meal he produces costs £2.99.

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Five of London’s 32 boroughs, including Newham, already fund free school meals for all primary-aged children, as does the City of London. According to data acquired from freedom of information requests across London local authorities, costs to schools in London range from £1.80 to more than £4 per meal per pupil.

As a result, although every London borough opted into the scheme when it opened in May, some councils are having to contribute additional six-figure sums towards making the programme happen. 

In Kingston, where more than 6,500 additional pupils will receive free school meals this academic year, the council has committed an extra £185,000 and expects that that number could rise in September.

“The solutions have been different for every school but have included simplifying menus for all age groups, introducing a mix of cold and hot meals, changing kitchen layouts and introducing new queueing systems,” Kingston council said in a statement.

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Schools are also feeling the squeeze as many struggle with declining pupil numbers, hiring teachers and the cost of living crisis.

While councils have been urging schools to promote the scheme, says one school governor of a small London primary school, “it’s actually not in the school’s interests, at least not in our school, to encourage parents to take it on.”

In response to the concerns, the mayor’s office has been hosting webinars with councils that have their own meal programmes and setting up task groups including teachers to share tips and work through concerns.

What are the desired outcomes?

Food security campaigners hope this plan will spur the government to increase funding towards free school meals across the country and expand eligibility for the programme.

Even with existing programmes, there are approximately 1.7mn pupils in England who are considered poor enough to be on universal credit — the UK’s welfare system — but do not meet the narrower criteria for free school meals, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

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The programme now has a year to prove that it is delivering tangible aid to Londoners. “Despite the very real challenges that schools are under to deliver a policy at pace over the summer, if we can capture the benefits that that brings to the school culture and ethos, I think it is going to be super important,” said Myles Bremner, a former director of the government’s school food plan who is part of a team evaluating the programme’s implementation and its impact on London families.

Although the scheme is a one-year pilot, there is some optimism among campaigners that it will endure. “I would be really surprised if it went away,” said Hales. “It’ll be a very brave mayor of London — be it Sadiq or somebody else — to take it away again.”

As for Graham, she says this programme will offer her son a more balanced diet, especially as it gets colder. “When my son was eating sandwiches in December, you do feel guilty, but what can you do? At least he’s eating. But now I just think — he’s going to be getting a hot meal.”