Why free school meals needs 'urgent' expansion

<p>A group of teaching unions and other organisations are calling on the government to expand the free school meals scheme.</p><br><p>The group, claiming to represent one million school staff, have sent a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi asking for an “urgent” expansion, to include all children in families receiving universal credit or equivalent benefits.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>It’s as recent figures from the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/trackingthelowestcostgroceryitemsukexperimentalanalysis/april2021toapril2022" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Office For National Statistics</a> show the lowest priced items at UK supermarkets went up by around 6 or 7% in the year to April.</p><br><p>Richard Bettsworth from the <a href="https://www.ascl.org.uk/News/Our-news-and-press-releases/Education-and-Union-leaders-representing-a-million" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Association of School and College Leaders</a> explains why they're asking the government for an expansion of free school meals, why it would be a 'modest' investment, and how families, including those not on universal credit, are struggling.</p><br><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>How the current free school meals scheme works (1.27)</li><li>What’s prompted calls for an expansion of the free school meals scheme? (2.07)</li><li>Levels of poverty in schools (3.28)</li><li>Is there a case for all children to get free school meals? (4.43)</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>PART TWO</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>Will the government bow to the pressure and expand the scheme? (6.15)</li><li>Is the government’s current support enough? (7.19)</li><li>Some families who don’t quality for universal credit are struggling (7.58)</li><li>How free school meals can benefit children’s education (8.59)</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/EveningStandard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a> for more news and