Starmer describes free school meal expansion as ‘down payment' on child poverty
Charities and campaigners have urged the Government to axe the two-child benefit cap to ease child poverty as ministers set out plans to expand free school meals to all pupils in England from families on universal credit.
Asked whether he would go further and abolish the welfare limit, Sir Keir Starmer said: 'I would say this is a down payment on child poverty.'
The government just gave half a million kids the nutrition they need to learn, grow and thrive. What a win! 🍽️💥 @Keir_Starmer @bphillipsonMP @StephenMorganMP @leicesterliz #FreeSchoolMeals
— Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) June 5, 2025
The Prime Minister added that he was 'determined' to drive down child poverty and identify its root causes.
Currently, households in England on universal credit must earn below £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits) to qualify for free school meals.
More than one in four pupils in England are now eligible for free school meals, the latest figures show.
An additional 77,700 children became eligible for free school meals over a year, according to data published by the Department for Education (DfE).
Eligibility for free school meals stood at 25.7% of all pupils in January this year, the equivalent of 2.17 million children – up from 24.6%, or 2.09 million, in January 2024, the data shows.
The Government has said the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in families on universal credit from September 2026 will make 500,000 more children eligible for free lunches during the school day.
Ministers have also suggested that the change will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty.
During a visit to a school in Essex on Thursday, Sir Keir said the move was 'a statement of intent' to help give children 'the best possible start in life'.
Alongside the extension of free school meals, the DfE said it is working with experts across the sector to review the School Food Standards to ensure every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.
Sir Keir said Thursday's announcement was part of a broader package of provisions including breakfast clubs and 'so it needs to be seen within that group of measures'.
He added: 'But yes, it's a down payment on what I want to do in relation to child poverty.'
The Government's child poverty taskforce is due to publish its strategy later this year.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Times Radio that the meals extension would be funded and the Government will 'make sure that schools have what they need to deliver this'.
Asked why the expansion was not coming into force now, Ms Phillipson told BBC Breakfast: 'We're working as quickly as we can because we do appreciate the urgency, but we also need to work with schools to make this change happen.'
Parents have to apply for their children to receive free school meals and eligible children are not automatically enrolled.
The announcement has been largely welcomed by education leaders and campaigners, but some organisations have called for the Government to go further and introduce auto-enrolment.
Arooj Shah, chairwoman of the Local Government Association's (LGA) children and young people board, said: 'Councils still face data sharing and resource challenges in ensuring as many eligible children as possible receive what they are entitled to.
'Introducing automatic enrolment, using existing government data to capture all those who are entitled to free school meals, would also streamline the process and ensure as many children as possible can benefit, at a time when many families are still under financial pressure.'
Christine Farquharson, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, said the policy would, in the long-term, lead to an additional 1.7 million children getting free lunches.
But she said it 'will not see anything like 100,000 children lifted out of poverty next year'.
Ms Farquharson said expanding free school meals to all pupils in families claiming universal credit will be 'cheaper and more targeted towards poorer families' than making free school meals universal.
But she added that other measures, such as lifting the two-child benefit cap, 'would have a lower cost per child lifted out of poverty'.
Last week the Education Secretary suggested that scrapping the two-child benefit cap was 'not off the table'.
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