Concerns have been raised about the extent to which disadvantaged early years pupils are missing out on free schools meals (FSM), as new figures show the number eligible to have them in maintained nursery schools is rising.
A blog published by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has said nursery-aged children have been “left out of these debates” around free meals, “despite being at greater risk of poverty and in a particularly sensitive period of development”.
A freedom of information request submitted by the EPI to the Department for Education has revealed the number of children eligible to receive FSM in maintained nursery schools is rising.
The EPI has now raised concerns about how many of these children are actually receiving the free meals and how many children in food poverty are missing from these figures altogether - through not meeting the eligibility criteria, not applying or attending a non-maintained sector nursery that is not required to provide FSM.
The new data shows around 23,600 nursery children (eight per cent) in the maintained nursery sector were eligible for FSM in 2020-21.
The EPI has warned that, out of the eight per cent of eligible nursery children, it is unknown how many children actually take the meals.
It said that it might be expected for nursery FSM to reach fewer children because nurseries do not have the “same incentives as schools to register children”, as it is not attached to early years pupil premium funding.
The institute warned that the requirement for children to attend before or after lunch may be restrictive for families seeking to use their free entitlement hours across multiple days.
While the majority of children enrolled in early years care are in private, voluntary and independent settings (PVI), which are not required to provide FSM, maintained nurseries have more children enrolled from lower-income families.
The data shows that, in 2020, the number of children in maintained nurseries eligible for FSM was 20,918.
In 2021, the figure increased to 23,583, a 13 per cent rise on the previous year and 15 per cent higher than the figure before the pandemic.
Dr Kerris Cooper, senior researcher in early years at EPI and author of the blog, said the pandemic “shone a spotlight” on the importance of FSM but “far less attention” has been given to these for nursery children, “despite being at greater risk of poverty”.
She said: “This policy will be crucial, given the expected rise in food poverty in the coming years, so it’s essential that disadvantaged young children do not miss out from this intervention.
“At this critical time, when low-income families are facing increasing hardship, the role of FSM in nurseries is deserving of more research and attention as a potential tool for addressing food poverty in early years.”
Dr Cooper says children missing out on these meals could have “serious consequences”.
She said: “The adverse impact of food poverty on health and the home environment is well known, but it is likely that children’s education and development will also suffer.”
“The pandemic has already had a detrimental effect on early child development and school readiness, and this could be exacerbated if more children are also falling into food poverty.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We want to ensure every eligible child has access to free school meals, which is why we have expanded access to them more than any other government in recent decades.
“Outside of term-time, vulnerable children and families can also benefit from our Holiday and Activities Food Programme and access welfare support through billions in investment, including the Household Support Fund which was recently doubled to £1 billion.”
