The Mayor of London should announce whether he intends to extend
his Free School Meals programme for another academic year as soon
as possible, the London Assembly Budget and Performance
Committee has urged.
In his 2023-24 budget, the Mayor announced a £130 million
programme to provide free school meals to every child in London’s
state-funded primary schools for the school year.
He described the funding as “emergency funding” and noted that it
would “help around 270,000 primary school children and save
families in London around £440 per child across the year”.
However, during a meeting as part of its annual scrutiny of the
Mayor’s budget, the Budget and Performance Committee questioned
whether the programme will be continued for 2024-25 and whether
there are plans to extend its scope.
The Mayor’s Deputy Chief of Staff said that a decision had not
been made on the future of the programme, explaining “the Mayor
thinks this is a success, he would like to do it, but we have no
idea yet whether we have the money to do so”.
Implementing the programme has required significant work from
boroughs, and the Committee believes that an earlier announcement
would help leaders with their planning.
Because of this, it has today written to
the Mayor urging him to confirm his intention for the future of
the Free School Meals programme as early as possible.
It is also calling on the Mayor to ensure that the details are
set out in his Consultation Budget in December, even if funding
for the programme cannot be confirmed by then, to ensure due
scrutiny ahead of any confirmation of funding.
The Committee makes six recommendations
intended to support and improve the coming drafts of the Mayor’s
budget for 2024-25, including:
- The Mayor should confirm his intention for the future of the
Free School Meals programme as early as possible.
- The December Draft Consultation Budget should set out the
current anticipated costs, funding and timing for the project to
re-develop the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.
AM, Chairman of the
Budget and Performance Committee, said:
“The Budget and Performance Committee leads scrutiny of the
Mayor’s budget and we make recommendations with the aim of
supporting and improving the budget-setting process.
“As the Mayor’s budget now totals over £20 billion, this work
is crucial in ensuring that the best spending decisions are made
for our city.
“We understand that the timing for the budget is challenging
for decision making. However, implementing the Free School Meals
programme has required significant work for schools and boroughs,
and we believe that an earlier announcement will help them
with their planning.
“We will continue our investigation of the Mayor’s budget
over the coming weeks to find out what it means for vital
services like transport and policing.”
Notes for editors:
- Letter is attached.
