Providing free school meals during lockdown
How councils responded to the challenge in the spring and summer
of 2020
In our latest
report, we look at how councils approached the challenge of
continuing to provide free school meals during the national
lockdown in the spring and summer of 2020, whilst schools were
closed for normal classes.
We undertook this work as part of our COVID-19 learning project.
Our aim was to identify how councils adapted their free school
meals service during the lockdown, and particularly if there are
any learning points as a result of this experience both for
councils and the wider public sector.
How councils
responded to the challenge in the spring and summer of
2020
This report looks at how councils approached the
challenge of continuing to provide free school meals during the
national lockdown in spring and summer 2020.
We looked at how councils approached the challenge of
continuing to provide free school meals during the national
lockdown in the spring and summer of 2020, whilst schools were
closed for normal classes.
We undertook this work as part of our COVID-19 learning
project. Our aim was to identify how councils adapted their
free school meals service during the lockdown, and particularly
if there are any learning points as a result of this experience
both for councils and the wider public sector.
Our main outcomes and learning
points:
Uptake of school meals increased and councils felt they
were better placed for any future school closures
-
In June 2020, most councils reported an increase in the
number of eligible free school meals pupils during the
Covid-19 pandemic.
-
The uptake of alternative free school meals ranged from
85% to 100%, an increase from a national figure of 77%
pre-Covid.
-
17 councils responded to our request for information
and they told us in June that they were confident that should
school closures happen again they are now better placed to
maintain free school meal provision.
-
Arrangements for providing free school meals provision
continue to be tested with the firebreak ‘lockdown’ that took
place in October/November 2020 and on-going incidences of
pupils being required to self-isolate.
