'Thousands of children' in Manchester will benefit from major free school meal change

The changes will come into effect next year

'Thousands of children' in Manchester are set to benefit from a major change to free school meals from next year.

The move, which extends the lifeline benefit to all kids in families who receive Universal Credit, could save parents up to £500 a year. More than half a million children across the country are expected to become eligible for free school meals as a result of the change.

Welcoming the news, Manchester council leader Bev Craig said 'thousands of children' across the city will benefit.

Currently, all children in England can get free school meals until the end of Year 2. After that they only qualify if their family gets certain benefits. Kids in families that claim Universal Credit only qualify if their household earns less than £7,400-a-year after benefits.

But from September 2026, all children in Universal Credit households will be able to get a free, nutritious hot meal.

More than 500,000 kids are expected to benefit from the change which the government says will lift 100,000 children out of poverty.

Some 2.1m pupils - almost one in four (24.6 per cent) - in England were eligible for free school meals in January 2024.

The numbers have soared since the start of the Covid pandemic when 1.44m children were eligible, the Mirror reports.

As of this January, nearly half of pupils in Manchester were eligible for the free school meals - around 44,465 in total, according to PA.

This is the highest proportion in any local authority area across the country with Salford also ranking high on the list at 36.3 per cent.

In Tameside, around 35.1 per cent of pupils currently receive free school meals, while in Oldham the rate is 34.3 per cent.

Around 32.9 per cent of kids in Rochdale receive free school meals, while in Wigan 28.9 per cent of pupils are eligible.

Bolton appears lower down on the list with 28.4 per cent of pupils currently being eligible while in Bury it's 24.8 per cent.

In Stockport 21.6 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals while in Trafford, just 17.3 per cent of pupils are.

Responding to the announcement, Oldham council leader Arooj Shah, who chairs the Children and Young People Board at the Local Government Association (LGA) said it would have a 'positive impact', but more needs to be done so eligible children are signed up.

She said: “No child should go hungry and expanding free school meals to all those in receipt of Universal Credit has been a longstanding ask of the LGA and councils.

“This move will certainly have a positive impact. Making it easier for more children to have a healthy, nutritious meal will make a real difference to their health, wellbeing and attainment.

“Council still face data sharing and resource challenges in ensuring as many eligible children as possible receive what they are entitled to.

“Introducing automatic enrolment, using existing government data to capture all those who are entitled to free school meals, would also streamline the process and ensure as many children as possible can benefit, at a time when many families are still under financial pressure.”

Joseph Rowntree Foundation Chief Executive Paul Kissack said: "It's really positive to see the Government now taking concrete measures to reduce the unacceptable levels of child poverty in the UK. With 4.5 million children currently in poverty, expanding free school meals eligibility is a critical first step to relieve some pressure on family budgets ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy.

"We look forward to seeing a coordinated strategy which builds on this, with ambitious measures to boost household income and ensure all children get the best start in life, unhindered by hunger or hardship."