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Children’s Food Campaign
Help protect free school meals for some of England’s poorest children

The government has announced that it is dropping plans for primary school children from low income working families to receive free school meals.  This breaks a commitment from the new government to protect the poorest from cuts to government spending, and is very likely to discourage parents from finding work. 

In the same letter, Gove also announced cuts to pilot projects to provide free school meals to every primary school child in five local authorities.  We need as many people as possible to write to Mr Gove now, asking him to reconsider these cuts.

For years, campaigners including the Children’s Food Campaign have been highlighting the injustice that many children living in poverty fail to qualify for free school meals.  The decision to extend eligibility for free school meals to primary school children from low income working households, announced by the previous government in December 2009, went some way to addressing this.  This change in policy represents a backwards step.

Poverty in working households is a big problem: currently, 60 per cent of children living in poverty have at least one parent in work.  Abandoning plans to provide free school meals to these children, which were due to start from September, represents an effective “tax” on parents moving into work of around £300 per child each year.

Now that school meals meet the new nutritional standards, ensuring that children eat them has a number of health and education benefits.  These include improving classroom behaviour, helping develop healthy eating habits and encouraging children to try new foods.  These benefits are particularly important for children from the most disadvantaged homes.

 

Write to Michael Gove

Please write to Michael Gove to oppose these cuts, which will see some of the UK’s poorest children losing out.  Below is a template letter, which you may wish to use as a basis for your own message.  Please personalise it if you can, for example using experiences from your own local area, as this will make it much more effective.

You can send your message by email to ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk, or by post to:

Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Secretary of State for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT

 

Template letter

Dear Mr Gove,

I am writing to ask you to reconsider your recent decision which drops plans to extend free school meal eligibility to primary school children from working families with a household income of less than £16,190.

There is good evidence of the health and educational benefits of school meals, including improving classroom behaviour and helping children develop healthy eating habits which will stay with them for the long term.

Sixty per cent of children that live in poverty have at least one parent in work. Failing to provide these children with a free healthy school meal is very likely to discourage parents from getting work, as school meals currently cost families around £300 per child each year.

Going ahead with the planned extension of eligibility for free school meals to primary school children from low income working families would have lifted 50,000 children out of poverty, and made a significant contribution to reducing health and educational inequalities.

While I am well aware of the pressures to reduce public spending, I urge you to reconsider these cuts in the light of your government’s promise to protect the country’s poorest families from their worst effects.

Yours sincerely,

 

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