Tulip Siddiq responds to school census data showing 420,000 pupils have become eligible for free school meals since the start of the first lockdown

Tulip Siddiq MP, Labour’s Shadow Children and Early Years Minister, responding to school census data showing that 420,000 pupils have become eligible for free school meals since the start of the first lockdown, said:

“Thousands more families are reliant on free school meals to stop children going hungry, yet the Conservative Government is offering food on just 16 of 30 weekdays this summer holiday.

“The number of children on free school meals was rising even before the pandemic as a decade of Conservative governments piled pressure on families’ budgets.

“Ensuring no child goes hungry is at the heart of Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan, which includes guaranteeing free school meals over all school holidays during the pandemic.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• There are 8.9 million pupils attending 24,400 schools in England in 2020/21. This includes state-funded and independent schools.
• 20.8% are known to be eligible for free school meals, representing 1.74 million pupils. This has increased from 17.8% in January 2020.
• Over 420,000 pupils have become eligible for free school meals since the first lockdown on 23 March 2020. This compares to 292,000 for the same period (March 2019 to Jan 2020) before the pandemic https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics