Ministers are being urged to automate free school meal (FSM) provision as new analysis suggests almost a quarter of a million eligible pupils in England could be missing out.
The Liberal Democrats has warned that 234,500 children entitled to FSM in England may not be registered for them, after submitting a written question to ministers.
The party is calling on the government to automate the process to reach those children missing out, suggesting the use of social security records to set up an automatic enrolment process.
The Department for Education has admitted that more than one in ten pupils who are eligible for FSM are not registered for them.
The Liberal Democrats has said that a DfE estimate that 89 per cent of eligible pupils receive an FSM implies that some 234,516 children have not been registered for them.
The party’s analysis suggests 132,988 of these will be in primary school and another 92,344 attend state-funded secondary schools.
However infant-aged children, from 4 to 7 years old, who have not registered for FSM would still be receiving lunches under the universal infant free school meals scheme, introduced in 2014 by the coalition government.
The Liberal Democrats has pointed out that, in these cases, their schools will not attract pupil premium funding unless they also apply for benefits-related FSM.
In December, the DfE revealed that the latest estimate for the number of school pupils entitled to free school meals but not registered for them was more than one in ten (11 per cent).
The figure was published in response to a parliamentary question tabled by Liberal Democrats education spokesperson Munira Wilson MP.
The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming benefits related to FSM.
The Liberal Democrats has said this suggests there are a further 234,500 children who are eligible for FSM but who are not registered to receive them.
The party has also warned that these children’s schools will be losing out on pupil premium funding of up to £1,385 per year for each child.
Currently, universal infant FSM are available for all government-funded schools, offering FSM to pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, but not those in later years in primary school.
Beyond this, free meals are available to those on various benefits, however, those on universal credit in the pupil’s household must have an income of less than £7,400 a year to qualify.
Data from the January 2022 school census shows that 1,897,449 pupils have registered for FSMs, including 1,075,994 pupils at state-funded primary schools and 747,143 pupils at state-funded secondary schools.
Ms Wilson said: “Thousands of children are suffering needlessly because their families don’t know that they are entitled to free school meals or that they need to apply for them.”
She claimed that government ministers “are standing idly by while children go hungry, expecting them to learn on empty stomachs. They have chosen not to step in and help”.
Ms Wilson added: “Parents should not have to jump through additional hoops to ensure their children are well fed when the government already knows which families are entitled to free school meals.
“Better still, the government should invest in our children by backing the Liberal Democrats’ plans for school lunches. Every child on universal credit should receive a free school meal,” she added.
A DfE spokesperson said: “We understand the pressures many households are under, that is why we are supporting more children and young people than ever before.
“Over a third of pupils in England currently receive free school meals in education settings and we have just announced a further investment in the National School Breakfast Programme, extending the programme for another year until July 2024 backed by up to £30 million.
“In addition, eight million of the most vulnerable households will get at least £1,200 of cost-of-living support this year on top of benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee - meaning they will be eligible for support which exceeds the average rise in energy bills by hundreds of pounds.”
The department said that it provides an Eligibility Checking System for FSM pupils to support schools and local authorities.
It also highlighted “a model registration form” to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM.
Last month, YouGov data revealed that two-thirds of MPs wanted FSM to be extended to all children in families that receive universal credit.
