"Making it easier for more children to have a healthy, nutritious meal will make a real difference to their health, wellbeing and attainment."
Responding to the government announcement of an expansion of free school meals to include children in households on Universal Credit from September 2026, Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“No child should go hungry and expanding free school meals to all those in receipt of Universal Credit has been a longstanding ask of the LGA and councils.
“This move will certainly have a positive impact. Making it easier for more children to have a healthy, nutritious meal will make a real difference to their health, wellbeing and attainment.
“Council 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.”
Notes to editors
The LGA view on preventing and reducing child poverty
Ends