The Mayor should provide more information about how he will
implement his free school meals initiative, including how he will
support schools to expand their provision, according to a report
by the London Assembly Economy Committee.
In February 2023, the Mayor announced that he would provide £130m
in funding to ensure all primary school children in London
receive free school meals during the 2023-24 academic year.
The Economy Committee welcomes the Mayor’s announcement as a way
of addressing child food insecurity but warns it is important
that there is a long-term solution to the problem as well as a
short-term fix.
It is now calling on the Mayor to provide a further update on
this work at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, for regular
updates throughout the year, and to explain why the decision was
taken to prioritise primary schools over secondary schools.
In a year that saw food prices rise at the fastest rate since the
1970s, the Economy Committee launched an investigation into food
insecurity in London, aiming to understand the scale, causes and
potential solutions to the problem.
It has today published a report with
13 recommendations to the Mayor and government
on how to alleviate food insecurity in London. These include:
- The Mayor should provide further information and transparency
to the Committee about how he will implement his programme of
free school meal provision, including how he will support schools
to expand their provision.
- The government should restore the uplift of Universal Credit
in line with inflation, which will help to address food
insecurity levels among the poorest households in London
[1].
- The Mayor should work with the government and local
authorities in London to develop plans to expand the provision of
free school meals once his own funding comes to an end.
- The government should introduce automatic enrolment for free
school meals and the Healthy Start scheme using social security
records, to ensure that all eligible children receive free school
meals.
AM, Chair of the
Economy Committee, said:
“Food insecurity is not a new phenomenon for households on
low incomes, but the current cost of living emergency is making
this situation much worse for many Londoners.
“The provision of free school meals is vital to alleviating
food insecurity among children from low-income households and we
welcome the Mayor’s free schools meals announcement.
“However, he said this was a ‘one-off proposal’, and we need
a long-term solution. That is why we are urging the Mayor to
provide further information on the scheme and for detailed
costings.
“We are also urging the government to restore the
uplift of Universal Credit in line with inflation,
to help to address food insecurity levels among the poorest
households in London.”
Notes for editors:
- The report is the view of a
majority of the Committee, agreed by the Labour, Green and
Liberal Democrat Groups, with the Conservative Group dissenting
on this recommendation (recommendation one) and recommendation
six.
