New entitlement to free schools meals for all children in the Colne Valley constituency in household on Universal Credit

Delivers on Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity by driving better behaviour, attainment and wellbeing in schools while putting nearly £500 in parents’ pockets

Labour’s historic move will lift 100,000 children out of poverty and support parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of Child Poverty Strategy

Comes alongside more than £13 million to ensure food that might have been left in fields instead ends up on the plates of those who need it, including school children

Paul Davies MP for has come out in support of the Labour government’s plans to deliver a free nutritious meal every school day for over half a million more children, as Labour puts £500 back into parents’ pockets every year by expanding eligibility for free school meals.

From the start of the 2026 school year, every pupil in Colne Valley Constituency whose household is on Universal Credit will have a new entitlement to free school meals. This will make life easier and more affordable for parents who struggle the most, delivering on Labour’s Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity and give children the best start in life.

The unprecedented expansion will lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty. Giving children the access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes – meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty has been unable to access free school meals.

Labour’s historic new expansion to those on Universal Credit will change this and comes ahead of the Child Poverty Taskforce publishing its ten-year-strategy to drive sustainable change later this year. It comes on top of targeted support for families being hit the hardest with the cost-of-living crisis, with urgent action including raising the national minimum wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 families through the Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

“Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures.
“My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.

“This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

“It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today this government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in parents’ pockets.

“From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success.

“We believe that background shouldn’t mean destiny. Today’s historic step will help us to deliver excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.”

Labour is also offering more than £13 million in funding to 12 food charities across England to redistribute thousands of tonnes of fresh produce directly from farms to fight food poverty in communities.
The Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate scheme is helping farms and organisations to work collaboratively to ensure edible food that might have been left in fields instead ends up on the plates of those who need it, including schoolchildren. This comes as part of Labour’s wider Food Strategy, helping to drive change and support a healthier, more sustainable and resilient food system.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:

“Poverty robs children of opportunities and damages their future prospects. This is a moral scar on our society we are committed to tackling.

“By expanding Free School Meals to all families on Universal Credit, we’re ending the impossible choice thousands of our hardest grafting families must make between paying bills and feeding their children.

“This is just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.”

Paul Davies, MP for Colne Valley, said:

“I know from speaking to constituents how much the stain of child poverty has impacted families in my constituency.

“That’s why I fully support this decisive and much needed action to expand entitlement for free school meals, lifting children across Colne Valley out of poverty and putting money back in parents’ pockets.

“Children across the constituency deserve the best start in life, and I’m proud that Labour is delivering this through the Plan for Change.”
To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, Labour is also acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

This new entitlement will apply to children in all settings where free school meals are currently delivered, including schools, school-based nurseries and Further Education settings. We expect the majority of schools will allow parents to apply before the start of the school year 2026, by providing their National Insurance Number to check their eligibility.

Schools and local authorities will continue to receive pupil premium and home to school transport extended rights funding based on the existing free school meals threshold.

This is just the latest step in Labour’s Plan for Change to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, including rolling out free breakfast clubs, expanding government-funded childcare to 30 hours a week for working parents and commitment to cap the number of branded school uniform items.

From April 2026 until the end of parliament, millions of households are set to receive a permanent yearly above inflation boost to Universal Credit. The increase, a key element of the Government’s welfare reforms to be laid before Parliament, will tackle the destitution caused by years of inaction that has left the value of the standard allowance at a 40 year low by the early 2020s.

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Notes to editors

•The extension of free school meals will mean children whose parent(s) earn over £7,400 but qualify for and claim Universal Credit, will become eligible for this additional layer of government-funded support from September 2026.
•As part of wider work to tackle child poverty, the government will continue to keep the allocation process for Pupil Premium and NFF deprivation funding under review.
•The change in FSM eligibility only applies to meals. Children will continue to attract pupil premium funding, deprivation funding through the national funding formula and be eligible for home to school transport on the basis of the existing £7,400 FSM threshold for the next financial year.
•Transitional protections have been in place since 2018 to ensure no one who gained FSM eligibility would lose it while Universal Credit was rolled out. We are extending protections until the new entitlement is introduced in September 2026. We will then end protections altogether, meaning FSM funding is focused on pupils in families in receipt of Universal Credit who most need it.
•The expansion of FSM announced relates to England. Across the UK, devolved governments have in place policies for their own nations. UK Government will continue to work with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on tackling child poverty across the UK.
•For those 25 and over in single households, the Universal Credit changes through the welfare reforms mean they’ll see their award jump from £92 to £106 per week.