Rebecca Evans AM, Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales, has raised concern that many families are not claiming the Free School Meals that they are entitled to.
Children whose parents receive certain benefits are entitled to receive Free School Meals. These benefits include Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Child Tax Credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit).
Young people who receive Income Support or Income Based Job Seekers Allowance in their own right are also entitled to receive free school meals.
Mrs Evans said: “The take-up rate of children entitled to Free School Meals came as something of a surprise to me.
“The latest figures show that only 3 in 4 eligible children and claiming their Free School Meals. That means that there are more than 20,000 children missing out.
“With many families experiencing a cost of living crisis, a Free School Meal can take a little bit of the pressure off the family’s food budget. It is vital that we identify and address the barriers that are preventing children receiving their Free School Meals.”
In a recent meeting of the Children, Young People and Education Committee the Minister, Huw Lewis AM, spoke about the role local authorities have in increasing take-up of Free School Meals.
The Minister said: “There is nothing to prevent a local authority doing an awareness-raising drive on take-up—some have done so. I would welcome that wholeheartedly, because it gives us a better grip of the statistics, apart from anything else, in terms of the number of children who are identifying as children that we need to be concentrating upon.
“I would hope that all local authorities would take the message that they need to be continually aware of raising the levels of take-up of free school meals.“
Mrs Evans added:
“There have been great steps in removing the perceived stigma of receiving Free School Meals – such as the use of swipe cards so that children receiving Free School Meals are not identified as being different from those who do not receive them.
“I urge all families who are eligible for Free School Meals to claim their entitlement.”
