MPs to debate free school meals extension
10/01/2024 MPs are set to debate the extension of the free school meals scheme today as tens of thousands of eligible disabled children miss out on extra support. |
Over 900 children in Stockport receive free school meals
20/09/2023 Over 900 children in Stockport are being provided with free school meals thanks to a council-run scheme. |
LGA: Extend food support to stop harm to children’s health
29/06/2023 Council chiefs have called for an extension of eligibility for free school meals and an increase in the value of the healthy start voucher scheme. |
Khan urged to provide more information on free school meals
20/04/2023 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been urged to provide more information about how he will implement his free school meals initiative. |
Welsh council chiefs welcome free school meal extension
10/03/2023 Councils in Wales have welcomed the Welsh government’s announcement that free school meals will continue for children from lower income families over holidays. |
Westminster City Council offers free school meals to 14,000 more children
09/03/2023 Children aged three to 14 in Westminster will be given free school meals in what the council is claiming as the most ambitious scheme of its kind in London. |
Khan announces £130m free school meal funding
20/02/2023 Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today announced £130m would be made available to ensure all primary schoolchildren in the capital can receive free school meals. |
Over 200,000 children missing out on free school meals
17/02/2023 Local authority leaders have called for the introduction of an automated sign-up system in order to expand access to free school meals to 215,000 children. |
Westminster council unveils cost-of-living crisis budget
07/02/2023 Westminster City Council has unveiled a budget aimed at helping residents hit by the cost-of-living crisis. |
Doctors back free school meal campaign
03/11/2022 Health care professionals have urged the Government to offer free school meals to thousands more children to fight malnutrition. |
Four million children face ‘food insecurity’
18/10/2022 An estimated four million children are currently living in homes that do not have adequate access to food, a food charity has revealed. |
Nearly two million children face food shortages
10/10/2022 The rising cost of food has left nearly two million school children facing food shortages, a new survey has revealed. |
School leaders call for free school meals during holidays
16/09/2022 The bank holiday this Monday has underlined the importance of providing pupils with free school meals during holidays, school and college leaders have said. |
Mayor Khan calls for universal free school meals
21/06/2022 Mayor Khan has urged the Government to extend provision of healthy free school meals to all primary school children to help with the 'perilous economic times'. |
Universal free school meals in Wales to start from September
20/06/2022 Every primary school pupil in Wales will receive a free school meal by 2024, the Welsh Government has confirmed. |
Scottish council to deliver school meals by drone
17/06/2022 Pupils in remote parts of Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland could soon have their school meals delivered by drone. |
Nearly two million pupils eligible for free school meals
10/06/2022 The number of children eligible for free school meals in England has risen again in the past year, new figures have shown. |
Teaching unions call for expansion of free school meal eligibility
01/06/2022 Teaching unions have called on the Government to extend free school meals to all families on Universal Credit (UC). |
Welsh government announces £25m to roll out free school meals
31/03/2022 The Welsh government is investing £25m in school kitchen and dining infrastructure to roll out free school meals to all primary school children in Wales. |
Birmingham CC stops school holiday meal vouchers
30/03/2022 Birmingham City Council has confirmed that school holiday meal vouchers will no longer be provided by the local authority. |
Free school meals scheme could feed one million more children
25/03/2022 One million more school children could be fed if the sign-up process to the free school meals was simplified, local authority leaders have said. |
Councils get funding to deliver milk and healthy snack scheme
02/08/2021 Scottish local authorities will receive up to £12m funding to ensure all eligible pre-schoolers get milk and a healthy snack. |
Free breakfast club for low-income families extended for two years
12/07/2021 Thousands more children in disadvantaged areas in England will benefit from free breakfasts at school, the Government has announced. |
Free school meals for an extra 90,000 primary pupils in Scotland
07/06/2021 Local authorities in Scotland will be given nearly £50m in new funding to provide free school meals for 90,000 primary pupils. |
Labour calls for free school meals over holidays
26/05/2021 Over half a million children became eligible for free school meals during the first year of the pandemic, analysis by Labour has estimated. |
Household food insecurity at 'crisis' levels warns report
02/03/2021 The Government must make food insecurity a priority and move away from short-term emergency measures, a new report has urged today. |
Government urged to fund free school meals during holidays
15/02/2021 Labour has warned 1.4 million children face a postcode lottery in food support this half-term. |
Return of free school meals voucher scheme
19/01/2021 The Government has relaunched the free school meal vouchers following the scandal surrounding 'disgusting' food parcels. |
Councils told to provide free school meals during half term
15/01/2021 Councils have been tasked with providing free meals to school children during half term week next month, prompting an outcry from the sector. |
Councils urge action over 'disgusting' free school meals pictures
13/01/2021 The Government has promised to investigate after pictures appeared on social media of ‘disgusting’ free school meal parcels. |
Councils welcome £170m COVID winter grant scheme
09/11/2020 A new £170m COVID winter grant scheme will be distributed to councils to stop children going hungry during the second wave of the pandemic. |
Councils urged to appoint 'Food Champion'
05/11/2020 Councils have been urged to appoint a Food Champion and work with a Food Partnership in a bid to tackle food poverty. |
Charities tell PM to protect children from ‘winter of hunger’
04/11/2020 The UK’s leading children’s charities have joined forces to urge the Government to do more to protect children this winter. |
Marcus Rashford honoured by Manchester City Council
29/10/2020 The City of Manchester Award has been given to Marcus Rashford in recognition of his work to extend free school meals during school holidays. |
Charity warns parents are struggling to cover school food costs
23/10/2020 Nearly one million children are living in households that are struggling to afford to feed their children during a school day, according to a new survey. |
Nearly one million children set to lose free school meals over holidays
21/10/2020 Nearly one million children living in areas that are subject to Tier 2 and 3 coronavirus restrictions are set to lose access to free school meals over the holidays, a new analysis has revealed. |
Labour calls for free school meals to be provided during holidays
19/10/2020 Labour has thrown its weight behind a petition urging the Government to extend the provision of free school meals during holidays by threatening to force a vote in the Commons. |
Nearly one million children sign up for free school meals
12/10/2020 Around 900,000 children have newly registered for free school meals this Autumn, according to the Food Foundation. |
Calls to extend free school meals to children from migrant families
17/08/2020 Pupils from low-income migrant families should receive free school meals to prevent thousands of children from going hungry, 60 organisations have said. |
National Food Strategy calls for more free school meals
29/07/2020 Free school dinners should be extended to every child where their parent or guardian is receiving Universal Credit, a report has recommended today. |
PM forced into U-turn on free school meals
16/06/2020 Council chiefs have welcomed the decision to provide a £120m voucher scheme to allow children from the poorest families get free school meals over the summer. |
Food voucher scheme to be extended over the Easter holidays
07/04/2020 Councils have welcomed plans to extend the free food voucher scheme to cover the Easter school holidays. |
Pupils eligible for free school meals will receive food vouchers
31/03/2020 The families of children entitled to free school meals will receive a weekly food shopping voucher of £15 while schools are closed due to coronavirus. |
Cash boost for breakfast clubs
06/01/2020 The Government has announced an investment of nearly £12m to deliver free meals and summer holiday activities for children in disadvantaged areas. |
Charity calls for help feeding children during the holidays
16/07/2019 The Trussell Trust is urging people to donate food to their local food bank to help support families with children during the summer holidays. |
Whitehall launches £9m holiday programme for disadvantaged children
21/12/2018 The Government today launched a £9m programme to provide disadvantaged children with free meals and activities during the school holidays. |
Council to stop supplying non-stunned halal meat in schools
13/07/2018 Lancashire County Council has announced it will no longer supply non-stunned halal meat to schools against the wishes of its residents. |
Over 100,000 children to lose free school meals under reforms
05/04/2018 One in eight children who would have qualified for free school meals under the old system will become ineligible under universal credit. |
Underfunded breakfast clubs to received £26m ‘boost’
19/03/2018 The Government has announced schools in some of the country’s most disadvantaged areas will receive £26m in order to boost breakfast clubs after warnings of underfunding. |
North Lanarkshire to offer free school meals during holidays
19/02/2018 A Scottish council is planning to pilot a new programme that will provide children in low income households with free meals every day of the year. |
Free school meals: What do the changes mean for families?
18/01/2018 Which children should be receiving a free hot meal at school and who should pay for it? Mark Whitehead reports. |
Reforms to free school meals would leave children hungry, warn union
15/01/2018 A leading union has dismissed government proposed reforms to free school meal entitlement as 'a cut disguised as a kindness.' |
Million children to lose free school meals under Universal Credit
19/12/2017 One million children living in poverty in England will miss out on free school meals under Universal Credit (UC) proposals, a children’s charity has warned. |
An extra 50,000 children could get free school dinners under Universal Credit reforms
17/11/2017 About 50,000 more children will be eligible for free school meals under new proposals for the Universal Credit system, according to the Government. |
Health experts unveil best menus to tackle childhood obesity
13/11/2017 Thai chicken curry, moussaka and pork ragu are on the menus for children recommended by health experts in a drive to cut obesity. |
Lancashire CC bans unstunned halal meat
27/10/2017 Lancashire CC yesterday decided to stop providing schools with unstunned halal meat due to concerns over ‘unnecessary stress and suffering’ for the animals. |
Over 100 pesticides detected on fruit and veg in schools, campaigners claim
05/09/2017 Campaigners have found over 100 different pesticides on the fruit and vegetables supplied to schools by the department of health. |
Tory school breakfast pledge to cost three times estimated £60m
25/05/2017 The Conservative Party’s promise to provide free breakfasts to all primary school pupils will cost three times as much as the £60m they originally suggested. |
Labour's free school meals would cost £950m a year finds research
10/05/2017 Labour’s pledge to provide free school meals for all primary pupils would cost £950m a year, new analysis has revealed. |
MPs call for sugary drinks levy to be used to tackle school holiday hunger
25/04/2017 Three million children risk going hungry during the school holidays, putting them in danger of malnutrition and undermining their education prospects. |
Wales to invest £0.5m into holiday meals for deprived pupils
03/01/2017 The Welsh government is investing £500,000 into providing school meals and activities for pupils from deprived communities during the summer holidays. |
MPs urged to support take up of free school dinners
28/11/2016 Councils should be free to share benefit data with schools to enable children to be automatically signed up for free meals, school leaders have said. |
MPs warn more children are going to school hungry
18/04/2016 An increasing number of children are going to school hungry and underweight, according to the results of a major new study. |
Council criticised for ‘shocking fall’ in exam results
13/04/2016 A council has been criticised for a ‘shocking fall’ in the GCSE results of pupils on free school meals. |
Nearly 2,500 academies not signed up to healthy school meal standards
22/03/2016 A loophole that enables nearly 2,500 academies and free schools avoid signing up to healthy school meal standards must be closed in a forthcoming child obesity strategy, town hall leaders say. |
Two-tier school meals standards must end, says LGA
07/01/2015 Council leaders have called for loopholes to be closed that mean 4,000 schools do not have to adhere to new standards on healthy meals. |
Free school meals now eaten by 85% of infant school pupils
18/12/2014 More than 1.6 million children have taken up free school meals in England’s infant schools since they were introduced in September. |
Scottish councils given extra £241m in funding settlement
12/12/2014 Scottish councils have been handed an additional £241m this year to support young children and lessen the impact of the 'bedroom tax'. |
Council investigates claim pupils received single chicken nugget for lunch
22/09/2014 A council is launching an investigation into claims local reception children received only one chicken nugget for their school lunch. |
Clegg grilled on radio over free school meals by ‘nine-year-old’
05/09/2014 Nick Clegg has been taken to task live on radio over his free school meals policy by a listener claiming to be a nine-year-old child. |
Clegg launches free meals for infant schools
02/09/2014 The Government has today launched free school meals for all children in their first three years of school. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.